The Power Surge
by BStyles4Life
Summary: More than 20 years after the war ended, something happened...we don't know what it was, for sure, but it's rendered the Matrix unstable...and yet, the Oracle thinks that by freeing a particular mind, I'll be able to stop what lies ahead. Just great.
1. Intro

_The end…it was so tangible I could grasp it in my hands. I just never expected it to be so bright…_

_The dream started out the same way the last three months: I wake up, lying on the floor of the interior of the Defiant, having been unconscious for some unknown reason. The ship looks like it had been to hell and back; wires dangling, hissing and crackling with electricity, generators engulfed in smoke and inoperable, but on top of the mess there was a stupefying sight at the cockpit window: sunlight._

_Whoa, back up._

_Sunlight? In the real world?_

_Now I knew I must've been dreaming._

_Nevertheless, I left the ship through an already open loading bay and stepped out onto the cold, rocky surface that was once Earth and I walked out into the sunlight and let it wash over my skin. I covered my eyes from the glare. While in the Matrix, there wasn't a day that went by when we didn't get sunlight, but this…this was real. This was relaxing, inviting, and it was all happening for some inexplicable reason, which I would soon find my answer to._

_In the distance, I made out a figure, standing at the edge of the plateau, which the Defiant must have crash-landed on. As I neared, the figure took on a feminine shape, bearing Zion-woven fatigues similar to what I was wearing. She was a brunette, whose hair extended past her shoulders and a short distance down her back. For a second it looked like Venus, but for one, her hair was black, and she wouldn't have let me sneak up on her this easily. No, this had to be another, and it seemed as I got closer the sunlight betrayed me, shielding her face from my view._

_And just like that, the dream ended._

_The subconscious can be a bitch, sometimes._


	2. The Perfect Flower I

_Just another day on the job…or at least that's what I thought when I woke up, this morning._

* * *

"_Captain…" _The voice was persistent, and to add to it, was the constant and increasingly annoying nudge, to my shoulder._ "Captain, tow bomb!" _Those three magic words caused my eyes to shoot open, and I thrust the controls forward, accelerating the ship rapidly down a dormant utility shaft. After realizing that we weren't in danger, my nerves calmed, and I released the controls, and looked over at my wingman, which had broken into laughter.

"Do you think that that was funny?"

"I'm sorry, Captain, but you needed that," Tech replied. "This is the fifth time that you've fallen asleep at the controls."

"Tech, re-evaluate your method of waking me, before we end up halfway into a wall, alright?" He nodded, and got up to return to his station. He was right though…and lashing out at him probably wasn't my brightest idea, and here came Torque to tell me off. "I know what you're about to say, Torque. Don't be too hard on him, Ajani. His mind is young."

He took this with relish, and sat down in the copilot's chair, and began to look at me. "I've got a point there, Ajani."

I rubbed the crust out of my eyes, and clasped my hands over the controls. The drowsiness was beginning to set in, again. "It's been three months since she told me, and I haven't found her yet…and I feel like we're running out of time."

"She's like a needle in a haystack," He said. "And you knew that, three months ago, even when though you were told how long it might take, to find her."

"Well sue me, for living in the moment," I responded. "You know as much as I do, that I would never volunteer to do reconnaissance, but it was the only way we were going to get out of the city, alright?" Torque nodded.

"True," Torque got up, and patted me on the shoulder. "But you still offered your help, so here we are. You'll figure this thing out, sooner or later," He chose the worst times to use sarcasm, but ironically, every time he did, I was at fault. "But in the meantime…don't take your anger out on your crew."

His footsteps receded as he stepped through the doorway, and relinquished himself to his quarters. I reached up, pulled the Auto-Pilot lever, and the ship began to move again. We weren't going anywhere in particular, at this point, but we also couldn't dwell in the same spot for too long. That, combined with the fact that if I woke up my first mate at this time of the day, she'd probably stab me.

It's not that I didn't have the guts to tell her off, but sometimes she scared the hell out of me…

Tech was sitting at the computer station as I slid down the ladder to join him. He looked back to see who it was, but when he found out that it was me, he swiftly turned back. He exhaled pretty loudly, giving me a clear sign that his mood had soured. You know…for all it was worth, I didn't mind having him around…now, at least. I don't like how he was forced onto my crew by the fleet commander, but I couldn't hold that over him, forever.

As a Captain, I never took the time out to understand the code of the Matrix, even though it was mandatory that we did. Back home, they taught operators how to keep track of their crew and how to get them to exit points, but Christ! The anatomy of these single strands of code rendering the walls of buildings, cars, roads, and people was just mind boggling, and so like everything else that required too much of my attention span and pissed me off, I ignored it. This made a good time to bond with the 15 year-old.

"What's that?" I sat down next to him and pointed to a few streams of code.

"A wall," He replied.

"Oh, well you're staring mighty hard at that wall, Tech," He always hated it, when I did this.

"Sorry, Captain."

"You know, Tech, you have an inquisitive mind," I started. "Sometimes I don't get some of the things you do, but…you don't have to apologize, all the time…in fact, _I_ came down here, to…apologize, for my outburst," He then developed a facial expression that vaguely meant "stop messing with me" and spun his chair in my direction. "Yeah, I'm serious. The only reason we're out here is because of my bad decision-making."

"So…you're not mad at me?" I was a bit astounded that he would ask me this. I think he always had an idea about how I felt when he was assigned to this crew, but I had had a long time to reconsider.

I simply smiled. "Of course not. You're a dynamic part of the crew!"

He looked around to make sure that no one else on the ship was in direct listening vicinity—even though there were just four of us—and then ducked down to a whisper, to ask me something that only I should've heard. "Am I better than Torque?"

"Alright, don't get your hopes up, that high," He was satisfied with this answer and didn't even bother to mention Venus. "Okay, Tech. You're good with scenarios, right?"

"I'm an operator, Captain."

"Point taken," I said. "Here's a scenario for you. Let's say that I'm in the Matrix, and I need to find someone, but don't know where to start searching. How do I get them to find me, instead?"

"Well, if we're speaking hypothetically, then you could always hack out their location," I could only imagine what this kid would do to someone, if they pissed him off. "But if you honestly don't know who you're looking for, then I would start to look at some variables."

"Like?"

"I know you don't jack in very often, unless it's important, so basically you wouldn't really exist in order to be found. And since you don't know who you're looking for, then you'll end up searching through the billions of people in the Matrix, just to find your person of interest."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"Okay, so then let's narrow it down," He said. "Let's say this person is really important, or not that well liked. That narrows it down to—"

"—basically everyone?"

"Hold on, I'm not done," He continued. "Let's punch in a few more variables…" He started typing, and on another screen my picture came up, along with hundreds of thousands of links, to potential persons of interest. This was starting to require too much of my attention. "The easiest way to become an attraction is by fame. The quickest way, is by infamy, so, if we put those two together…" He set me up as a prime suspect.

"Tech!"

"Don't worry, Captain, this is just a simulation," He pressed ENTER to complete his masterpiece. Quickly, links started disappearing, until there were only a couple dozen people left. I stood up and looked at the list, but I'd never seen these people before…Sean D. Roberts, John H. Benoit, Audrey L. Sinclair, Tricia B. Baker, Harris F. Marshall, and some other…wait…

Sinclair…that name sounded familiar. I began to ponder over it, and as I looked at her name again, her middle initial spelled it out: it was an event that I got myself caught up in, a few months ago, involving a well-known police sergeant. His car was bombed and he was killed, but I remember him telling me about a woman…no, his daughter…

"You're staring mighty hard at that woman, Captain."

"Tech…make me a case file."

"Wait…what?" Tech jumped out of his chair and joined me at the screen. "You were serious?"

I can't believe that after three months of searching, Tech managed to slim it down to five minutes…why do I even bother? "Criminal Defense Attorney Audrey L. Sinclair. Since we're already on the subject, if I were to commit a crime, then I could try to get her to try and defend me…right?"

"From what it says, she's one of the best in the city," Tech read. "I could make a case file of you that'll grab her attention…but why her? And what's going on?"

"Tech, I have a gut feeling, and you're just going to have to trust me on this," As my excitement rose, a transmission was awaiting answering on the console nearby. "That's most likely coming from Zion. Go answer it," He sat down at the console and put on his headset.

"Operator."

"I need to speak to Captain Ajani."

"Right away, sir," Tech handed me the headset and stood behind me, as I sat down and immediately subdued to conversation with the commander.

"Commander Locke."

"Captain, given the conditions you're up against, I have every right to detain you and your crew."

"Reason?"

"Don't give me that crap," He continued. "You know good and well that you're not doing any reconnaissance, which would benefit Zion's interests."

"Well, it's not the first time we've had this discussion, commander."

"And I take it that it won't be the last," He shook his head and looked back at me. "You've been ordered to return to Zion."

"On what grounds?"

"Captain Morpheus has requested your presence."

"…what?" This was interesting. Morpheus and I hadn't spoken face to face in almost 10 years. In fact, he and his ship had disappeared from the dock months prior to us leaving, without its crew, and it was said that he had left with his whereabouts unknown. "Are you sure, commander?"

"The Nebuchadnezzar II returned last week. He's been meaning to speak to you, Captain."

This began to conflict with my chance of ever speaking to the attorney. "I'll return at once, commander," The transmission then came to a close, and I turned off the console, and began to think. Deadbolt was going to have my ass if I didn't return on time, but for once, since we started this voyage had I had a good sense of who I was looking for, and what I had to do.

"Captain?" Tech called, approaching. "What are we gonna do?"

Well, Deadbolt was going to have my ass, either way. "Tech, I need you to do me a favor."

"Okay…name it."

"Do that "hacking" thing, that you do, and go into the Matrix, and send her a message," I said. "Send her someplace so that we could meet. And work on that case file. I may need it."

"What if she ignores it?"

"…use her middle name."

* * *

The day started bright and early for Audrey, much to her dismay. Her alarm rang, almost harder and louder than it did the day before, and the day before that. She groaned and felt around on her nightstand, knocking over her things before she finally reached the clock and shut it off. The radio kicked in, immediately boasting another sizzling day of 91 degrees. She groaned again, even louder than before following the announcement, and sat up to get herself prepared for the day.

Her morning started off with the same routine: a warm-up, followed by a power drink, and finally with an hour-long run around her neighborhood. The moment she stepped through the front doors of the building and out of the veil of air conditioning that pleased her, the humidity washed across her, giving her run a challenge. She set her phone to play her music and took off up the street.

Though her condo was set in an upper class neighborhood, her routine required that she run through some of the painstaking obstacles of the city, before returning home to get ready for work. She passed through Chinatown, co-op city, and neared downtown where she stopped at her usual coffee shop. She pushed open the door and walked to the register, just as the lines were forming. "Good morning, Ms. Sinclair."

"The usual."

"Coming right up," As they prepared her bagel and coffee she glanced up at a plasma screen, hanging from a wall nearby. A rough sketch of a criminal was being circulated—a new one, from the looks on the faces of the people nearby. Audrey leaned against the counter, and shook her head. "You know this one, Ms. Sinclair?"

"No, this is the first I've heard of this one," It read that he was wanted for five assaults, three robberies, two carjacking, and six casualties—four bystanders and two police officers. Before her jaw could hit the floor her cellphone began to vibrate and she unstrapped it from her arm and read the new text message that had arrived in her inbox.

"_I hope you like my show, Lotus."_

"Ms. Sinclair, your coffee…" Audrey was paralyzed with shock and didn't even notice that her coffee was ready. "Ms. Sinclair? Is something wrong?"

"…um…I…I don't know," She didn't once take her eyes off the text message, except to look at the TV screen. She picked up her things and staggered out of the shop, clenching her cellphone tightly.

* * *

When she got to the law firm that morning, she dropped everything that she was carrying, and collapsed into her office chair. Her cellphone was still displaying the same message that she had gotten earlier, except now, she wasn't staring at it in shock; she was looking to find some closure. She began typing at her computer, and resumed her relentless search, to find out about the strange crimes and events that had been happening around the city, within the last decade or so. She clicked on some images: crimes relating to the one she saw on the news that morning; a lot worse and wide scale. The so-called good guys, the Agents, whom she had worked many cases with in the past with, much to her dismay, had a very unorthodox method of fighting the crimes, in which the criminals never saw the light of day, or eventually dropped off the face of the earth.

There was nothing much to be seen: images that only caught glimpses of dark-fatigued individuals wearing sunglasses, night or day, which seemed to evade police each and every time they made pursuit. Had they been brought to justice, she wouldn't have hesitated to send them to prison, even as their defense attorney. That was the old Audrey Sinclair. The new Audrey Sinclair had a lot of loose ends to tie up, most particularly starting with her late father, a police sergeant. It was rumored that one of these individuals blew up her father's car, and was never found. Even though her father's case had been put to rest, she was determined to defend the individuals responsible at any costs, assuming that they were a group of some kind, giving her some leg room to stifle answers about his death out of them.

"Audrey!"

A sudden reflex caused her to look up past her computer screen, while closing the many windows and hiding various stacks of files on her desk. She sighed, and pulled the loose hair from in front of her face and stowed it with the rest behind her ear. "What do you want, Owen?"

"…didn't you hear me come in?" She opened her mouth, but after realizing that she didn't have anything to defend herself with, she remained that way. "You were doing it again, weren't you?"

"Doing _what_, exactly?"

"Every time you hear about these people, you get obsessed with trying to find them."

"I am _not_ obsessed, Owen," She snapped. "I want justice."

He snorted. "That's the same response I get from you, every time. Listen, I need you on your A-game when these procedurals begin, so could you just try to focus?"

"When have I not been focused?"

"…you obviously didn't hear a word I just said—okay," He dropped some case files onto her desk, and pushed them up to her keyboard. "Look these over, rub your crystal ball, and work your magic, will you?"

She clasped her hands on top of the folders. "If only it were that easy."

He nodded, and left her office. As her door closed she returned to the computer screen, only to read that she had gotten another email. She hesitated for a moment before opening it; eager for another response like the one that morning. Instead, it was just an advertisement on a jewelry sale.

'Damn,' She wasn't a big fan of jewelry, but read it anyway. Jewelry, in the shape of various flowers, was on sale, at a store across town. 'I don't think I've ever heard of this store…hmm… "for Lotus click here"…grammatical error, unless…' "Here" wasn't highlighted, but when she clicked on it anyway, her screen went black, which she assumed was a virus, destroying her computer. "Oh no…no, no, no, no!"

Nothing happened for five solid minutes. Groaning, her forehead hit the desk, and she clasped her hands over the back of her head.

"_Hello, Lotus…I didn't expect you to find that, so easily…then again, I may have underestimated your intellect."_

She looked up at the screen for a moment, hoping that somehow the situation might have changed and witnessed the message. She sat up, heart now racing, and began to type back.

"Who is this?"

"_You and I both know that the news cleared that."_

She decided to put her skills as an attorney to the test. Asking oblivious questions weren't going to get her anywhere.

"You knew my father?"

"_How do you figure?"_

"No one but him, used my middle name," She typed. "And there was one other person with him the night he died. I'm assuming that it's you."

"_You know what they say, about "assuming," Lotus."_

The conversation was getting her nowhere near to finding answers. She felt as if she was talking to a less mature person than the one she saw, committing the crimes. He continued typing through her pause, however, stating exactly what she wanted.

"_You want answers?"_

"Obviously!"

"_Fine, then. This Friday. The diner, on the corner of Fourth and Mason Street. Come alone, and I'll give you the answers you want."_

"How do I know you won't try to kill me?"

"_Please, Lotus…I'm offended."_

"Alright, alright!" She relaxed herself and wrote the information on a sticky note, and returned to the computer screen, but he had already written _"See you then, Lotus,"_ Before returning the screen to her email. She tried controlling herself, but her anger and excitement got the best of her.

"See you then, you murderer."

* * *

I maneuvered the ship out of the utility shaft and into one of the larger main line tunnels, which led deeper into the earth, and eventually back to Zion. It wasn't the fastest route, but then again, we weren't in that much of a rush to get back home. After setting the Auto-Pilot I left the cockpit, and prepared a bowl of food for my first mate, which I hadn't seen at all, today. I left it in front of her door, knocked twice—the call for food—and stood back up, only to run into her again, a short walk down the passageway.

Venus was, like me, one of the few redpills set free after the war ended. She trained with Captain Niobe's first mate, Ghost, and was of Chinese descent and shared most of his traits, with one outstanding—she was one of the best gunners in the fleet, and had expertise with rifles in the program. She saved my ass and half of Torque's, countless times within the Matrix, making her an invaluable part of the team, as well as first mate. The only downside to all of this was that she didn't take shit from anyone, and favored killing over negotiating. Ironically, she was a very reserved person, and spent most of her days locked away in her cabin, while onboard, or her living quarters, back home in Zion…or at least what I know of.

"Thank you."

"…no problem," She picked up her bowl. "Venus?"

She looked at me. "What?"

"…there's a crew outside your cabin door, if you'd like to talk…or something."

She stared at me for a moment, and then looked back down at her bowl. "Why do I get the feeling that you bet on this?"

"Why would I do that?"

"See right there?" She pointed at my face. "You stressed the muscles in your face. You're lying."

I chuckled. "What! I—" She raised her hand and cut my sentence short.

"You're digging a hole," She walked past me, mumbling "men" under her breath. I always hated it when she read me like a book! It made conversations with her all the more difficult!

She closed the door behind her. I shook my head, and returned to the computer station to check up on Tech's progress. As I slid down the ladder, he ran towards me, ready to badger me with questions. "Captain, you're not gonna believe what happened."

"Well, what happened?"

"Okay, I did what you said," He responded. "It took me a while to grab her attention, but she's willing to meet you."

"You showed her my case file?" He shook his head. "How? You can't jack in."

"…well, she was nowhere near a computer this morning, so I sifted through a stream of packets in the core network of the Matrix, uploaded your personal data, refreshed the memory, and then rerouted the information to an automatic announcement console, which circulated it through live data streams, across their city."

"Which means…?"

"I had it broadcast, live, over their morning news," I stood there in shock for a few minutes.

"Didn't we agree that that was a bad thing?"

"No…?" He replied. "Yelling "Tech!" isn't much of a gesture, Captain."

"Alright, so now I'm a criminal," I said. "How do you expect me to meet with her now?"

He ignored my question, much like he usually did, when interrupted. "I set you to meet with her on Friday, at the café on the corner of Fourth and Mason Street, near Melbourne Park," He wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to me. "She'll expect you to come unarmed."

"…fine," I stuffed the paper into my pocket. "I still don't see how I'll get into that café undetected."

"Remember that time when you and Torque were stuck in that warehouse, and surrounded by police—"

Here we go again. "Alright, I got it, Tech."

"—and then Venus came in and started shooting everyone like—"

"Thank you, Tech!" I shouted. "How long do you plan to keep that up?"

"Until it's not funny, anymore."

I began to shake my head in disbelief, when the sirens began blaring throughout the ship. Almost as if it were her reflex, Venus's cabin door flew open and she ran towards the cockpit. Tech pointed up towards at the catwalk, behind me, where Torque was about to try and grab my attention. "Ajani, there's something you need to see."

I nodded to him, and he ran back to the controls. "Tech, are we done here?"

"Oh! Um, Captain," He started to hesitate. "Um…she asked me some things that I didn't understand…I assumed that if she was talking to you, then you would know."

"Come on, make it quick!"

"She mentioned that you knew her father," He said. "She said that you were there, the night he died…is that what this is all about?"

He deserved to know. I know he did, and I couldn't hold this from him, since he helped out a lot with this mission. "Thanks, Tech, but right now is not the time," He nodded, and I climbed up the ladder and returned to the cockpit. "Venus, Torque, what's the prob…lem…" I looked out the front windows. "Why are we idling?"

"You might want to take a look at this," She and Torque moved aside so that I could see the hologram. "They're boxing us in."

Large groups of sentinels were gathering at the crossroads of tunnels ahead. They were also approaching us from behind, and it was clear that they knew we were here. "What they hell are they doing…we're at peace," I looked up. They left us with the option of going forward, which we were planning to do, and so I sat down and began to move us forward again. We passed the intersection without any contact, just as I'd suspected, and continued along our way. But why did the alarms go off? "Venus…what's the acceleration of this ship?"

"0 to 130, in three seconds," She responded. "What are you thinking?"

"I've got a bad feeling about what just happened," The ship began to vibrate. Without warning, the entire tunnel behind us began to cave in, and the holograph showed that the swarms of sentinels began to move in, after us. "This is bullshit!" We meant to go forward, but the same thing that happened behind us was happening in front of us. "They're boxing us in!"

"Down there!" She pointed to a large vent grate down and to my left. I steered into its direction and rammed it; it being no match for the hull of the ship, however what lied ahead was a challenge to maneuver. "They're trying to attack us, the bastards!"

"We're supposed to be at peace with these sons of bitches," Flying at this speed couldn't help us avoid the number of conduits running across this ventilation shaft. Luckily they weren't strong enough to cause any major damage to the ship. "Now they're trying to ambush us. Torque, you and Tech get on the guns. Venus, I know you're better, but I need you here," He nodded, and ran to his post, she sat down, and buckled up. "Captain Niobe once told me, that an event like this took down the Osiris, years back." She looked around at the tunnel, and then turned to me.

"If they're really hell bent on killing us…" She sighed, and began regulating the power. "Just get us out of here."

I pushed the controls forward, all the way. The ship then launched itself forward, and Torque and Tech began firing guns. "Venus, please tell me that you have a plan!"

"Ajani, do you know how annoying Tech can get?" She asked me. "I know that he does it to piss me off, but—"

"Relevance?"

"—I did manage to catch a bit of useful information out of him," She continued. "About these tunnels…down there!"

"Turn?"

"Yes!"

"Dammit! I need full power on starboard and aft!" She readjusted the power to the pads on the other side of the ship while I turned the controls, swinging us into the tunnel. "A little warning, next time!"

The sentinels were beginning to catch up to us, and soon, they took hold of the hull, and began trying to cut into it. To make matters worse, larger groups began trying to box us in at the other end of the tunnel. I turned the ship sideways, using the hull as a battering ram. That only worked for a couple of seconds; after that, they started grabbing hold of the hull, in an attempt to cut their way in, as well.

"We need to charge the EMP."

"The blast radiance of the EMP won't disable all of them, Venus."

"Just trust me," I couldn't go wrong with those three words. "TECH! CHARGE THE EMP!" She turned back. "Ajani, on my mark, straighten out the ship." She began to count down with her fingers. "NOW!" I pulled at the controls, straightening the ship, and at the same time, Tech flipped the switch. There was an electric blue flash, followed by the subsequent and complete loss of power. Moments later, loose metal parts all around us began to vibrate, and consecutively became attracted to the walls.

"They're…magnetized?" She nodded. Tech and Torque joined us in the cockpit, but by doing so, they offset the balance just enough to send the ship careening downwards into a large, old distribution chamber. "Brace for impact!" Damn it…it was too soon. At this rate, crashing head on into the cavern floor would turn this ship into a pile of scrap metal…all before I could get a chance to carry out what I had planned. With the cavern floor approaching fast the rest of my crew followed suit, but as we got close enough, the ship began to slow down, until it came to a complete halt, and then leveled itself out is if it were preparing to land…impossible…

"What in the hell…" I looked out the front windows. No sentinels in sight. I thought for sure that they were trying to help us after that little stunt they pulled back on the main line.

"Hey…awesome!" Tech joined me, and planted his face against the glass. "Someone was listening to my magnetite theory!" He attempted to high-five with Venus, but she openly refused, and he retracted his hand.

"Do you two mind sharing, what just happened, with your Captain?" I asked.

"I didn't think it would work, but…you see, I was talking to Venus about some of the geographical traits of the Earth, and I told her that I began researching some of the old sewer mains, which, over a hundred years, began to become lined with magnetite," Tech started. "This distribution chamber's floor, for example, is now made of negatively charged magnetite. So, when we used our EMP, combined with the walls of the tunnel, it amplified our EMP waves from about a mile to roughly ten miles in diameter."

"We took out all those machines?" Torque asked.

"It sounds that way; they haven't blown us up, yet," I replied. "But why didn't we crash?"

Tech stepped back from the glass and began to walk away from us, and with concern, I began to follow him, beckoning Torque and Venus to do the same. He climbed down a ladder and walked towards the loading bay doors, which he begged for us to open. Torque and I took some spare wrenches from nearby, and worked the door open manually until it got to a point where we could see what he was itching to show us: the ship was levitating on its own, some 10 feet off of the floor of the chamber. I scratched my head, and turned back to him. "Explain."

"It's like the stator of a motor," Tech continued. "Our positively charged ship would have been crushed on impact, with the negatively charged cavern floor, if we hadn't created a reverse in polarity by the electric discharge caused by the EMP. So now, the ground is repelling us, creating that smooth, safe landing."

"Tech, you never cease to amaze me," He smiled vibrantly. "Okay, we'll need to find some way to recharge. I assume that this "reverse in polarity" won't last forever. How long until it wears off?"

"…um…based on the power of the EMP, give or take about six hours. Then the polarity will regulate, and we'll become permanently stuck to the ground."

Well, there went my amazement. "Good to know. Alright, let's get to work."


	3. The Perfect Flower II

_The guys had finally gotten her out of the office. They dragged her to a local bar, and ironically enough, everyone at the bar was happy to see her. Midway into the night, she had had a few drinks, and everyone was laughing, and smiling—they were all having a good time…and then her phone rang. She was far too drunk to register the frantic voices of the police officers, but when she finally did, her great night out came to a screeching halt. Her smile faded, as she finally began to listen to the news._

_Her father had just been murdered._

_She rushed over to the scene. The fire department, the ambulances, and the police cruisers were all surrounding a small sedan, which was engulfed in flames. She made an attempt to run towards the car, but the officers restrained her, for her own safety. She witnessed the horrific sight of the corpse in the car, as firefighters tried desperately to put the fire out._

_They told her that it was a car bomb, wired to the gas cap, but at first she couldn't interpret these words. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her only living relative, and mentor, had just perished in some freak accident she knew he would never let happen. Eventually another cab pulled up, and her co-workers got out, after finally realizing that she had departed from the bar, and tried their best to console her. Her father didn't have any enemies, besides the people that he had put behind bars, and he was a respected police sergeant. She, however, had many enemies, but none of them would dare try to get at her, through her father._

_She ran into Owen's arms, unable to control herself. There was nothing to prove that it wasn't her father in the car. She had only spoken to him a few hours prior, but he was busy interrogating a suspect. As she opened her eyes and wiped her tears, her sight betrayed her, and in the shadow of an alley across the street from them, she swore that she could see someone standing there; a man, watching them—her. Crowds began to gather in front of him, and in a fit of anger she began to run after him, crossing the street and parting the crowd, but he was gone. She clenched her hair and looked back at the wreckage, as Owen approached her._

_"Audrey, are you alright?" He asked her. "Audrey…Audrey…"_

* * *

"Audrey!" She snapped back into focus, and rejoined their meeting. "You care to join us?"

She looked around at the other members of the law firm, as well as Owen, who was pressing for an answer from her.

"No," She said quietly, and glanced back at the address on her phone. "Owen, can I talk to you for a moment?" She ushered him out into the hallway, and closed the door behind her. "I have to leave."

"…you have to _what_?" He shook his head in disbelief. "Audrey, I don't know about you, but if you keep this up I'm not going to be able to protect you from the board of directors."

"I don't care about them, right now," She responded. "I have a meeting."

With who?"

"…I think I may have found my father's killer," He sighed and rubbed his temples. Looking around the almost abandoned hallway, he grabbed her by the arms and pushed her up against the wall. "What's wrong with you?"

"Tell me, Audrey," He began. "Just when are you going to let this go?"

She freed herself from his arms. "I refuse to let it go, Owen! He was a respected officer, and he was killed in cold blood."

"We are criminal defense attorneys, Audrey," He said. "Even if you met the guy, what are you going to do? Kill him?"

"Will you respect my intentions, if I do?"

He stared at her blankly, and then rubbed the brim of his nose. "Do what you have to do, Audrey." He pushed the door open again, and began to re-enter the conference room.

"So that's it? You're not going to try and stop me?"

"No, because part of me wants the bastard dead, too," He responded. "I respected Robert, Audrey, and even though we didn't work on the same side, if I had a chance to put the guy who did it behind bars, I wouldn't hesitate. But even he wouldn't approve of what you're thinking."

He closed the doors. Audrey continued to stare at them for a while, and then departed, on her way back home.

When she later arrived, she gathered the case files for the mysterious man, which went only by the name "Ajani". She couldn't understand how he had managed to rack up so many charges in so little time, and had one mind to burn the files and move on with her life, but closure kept denying her that right. She placed all of the work in a brown envelope, lugged it under her arm, and then returned to her bedside, and reached under her pillow—for her own safety, she had always kept a firearm nearby, and her father had begun teaching her how to use it, after her first few successful—and almost deadly—cases, as a CDA. She was told to "come unarmed," but she couldn't take her chances.

After changing out of her pants suit and into casual apparel rarely worn, she dove into the subway, and took a train across town, to the diner where she was supposed to meet the one who went by the name of "Ajani". As she resurfaced at her destination and spotted the small diner, her heart began to race. She began to clench the envelope tightly, and her breathing fastened, but neither could top her anger. The gun was concealed underneath her shirt, at her waist, and she was prepared to fire it at any moment, if she wasn't given the answers she wanted.

A bell jingled upon her entry, alerting a nearby waiter, and a few of the customers. One of the waiters called to her, and she approached the counter. "Audrey Sinclair?"

"Yes," She responded.

"A guy told me to tell you to sit at that table, over there," He pointed to a table by the window. Audrey clenched the folder even tighter, and walked towards the table, but even from talking to the waiter she could tell that no one was sitting at it. "He was just here…maybe he went to the restroom."

She sat down, placing the folder on the table and pulling the gun from her waist, and resting it on the seat beside her. She looked around; first outside, and then around the diner, and started to believe that she had been played; it was one thing to falsify a claim. She was used to that. But to toy with her emotions was a dangerous trait that no one dared test.

"Revenge does not look good on you, Lotus."

She jumped in shock, when she turned back, and Ajani seemed to have materialized out of thin air, into the seat across from her. After so many months of waiting, she was finally sitting across from the man who killed her father. She was excited—and enraged—at his sight. He, however, seemed to be showing the same signs.

"Don't call me that."

"Alright. My apologies," He said, with pure sarcasm in his voice. "Ms. Sinclair. Is that better?"

"Don't use that tone of voice with me," She thrust the envelope in his direction. "There's your damn file."

He smirked, and opened the envelope, eventually pulling out its contents and sifting through numerous files. "I sense a lot of anger in your voice, Ms. Sinclair…holy shit, Tech…"

"What did you say?"

He took off his sunglasses, and looked at her. "You've got a lot of built-up anger—"

"No, not that," She interrupted. "You mentioned a name…you said "Tech" in an expression that sounded like a nickname…do you have an accomplice?"

"Yes," He replied. "He's a 15 year-old hacker, who can write a mean case file, and get you to do what I want."

She began grinding her teeth in anger, but unaware to her, that was the truth, and nothing but it. She slowly began to retract her arm, and reached for her gun. "What do you know about my father?"

Ajani looked up again. "What's there to know?"

"You were there, the night that he died," She replied. "You blew up his car."

"I walked _away_ from his car, and it was _blown_ up."

"_You_ detonated it?"

"Are you asking me, or are you telling me?" As he said that, he heard what sounded like a gun, cocking. He realized that her right arm had receded from view, and felt the barrel of a gun push up against his leg. He chuckled, and continued to sift through the case file. "You came all this way, just to shoot me?"

"I want answers. You have them. Let's bargain."

He shook his head, clasped his hands over the files, and began to recollect that night. "Your father was a good cop, Ms. Sinclair…a really good one. Not many have been able to investigate the truth on a wide scale, without being hunted down, by Agents."

"Whoa, back up," She said. "What are you talking about?"

"Your father was also conducting his own personal investigation," Ajani continued. "No suspects, just…all of society. He felt that there was something wrong with this place, and he made it his initiative to extract some answers. That's when I ran into him."

"One night, while I was running a…um…well, let's just call it an "errand," for now," She shook her head at the iteration of the word. "I got sidetracked, and eventually, he, and a couple of officers had me cornered, so they brought me in for questioning. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to force some answers out of me, thus corroborating his investigation."

"Then why didn't he lock you away?"

"Because he let me go, of course," Her eyes widened.

"My father didn't just let suspects "go."

"I never said I was a suspect," He said. "He walked me out of the precinct, and offered me a ride. That's when he began telling me about you."

"…me?"

"Do you really think he would've told me something as menial as your middle name, if he still suspected me?" Ajani asked. "After that, it wasn't as easy as I thought, trying to find you. You've kept on the move."

"…you made it, so that we could meet," He nodded, and sat back.

"I didn't kill your father, Ms. Sinclair. He dropped me off exactly where I left him, and as I walked away, his car exploded, and since I'm not the type of person who would willingly offer a witnesses' statement, I remained at a safe distance," He began sifting through his blazer. "And for the record, before you start pointing guns at people, you should probably check to see if the magazine is loaded," With that, he showed her the entire magazine, and snatched the gun out of her hand, from under the table. He then stood up, and pushed the case files back towards her. "Try a different approach, next time."

He put his sunglasses back on, and walked towards the door. Now humiliated that her plan had backfired, she decided to take him up on his offer, picked up the files, and followed him; almost losing him in the traffic as she stepped outside, but regained sight of him, and caught up with him on a deserted side street.

"Give me my gun back."

"Oh…right," He removed the bullet from the chamber, re-inserted it into the magazine, re-entered it into the weapon and turned the safety on, in the blink of an eye. He then held it in the palm of his hand and she snatched it from him, and concealed it beneath her shirt once more. "Is that all you chased after me, for?"

"…you weren't lying," She said. "You don't sound like an expert at lying. Although that part with the 15 year-old still has me confused," She cleared her throat. "So…my father was killed by someone else, then?"

"Most likely," Ajani replied. "He was getting too close to discovering—and inevitably publicizing—the truth, so the only way to maintain the balance, was by keeping him quiet."

"…by killing him?"

"I'm afraid so," He said. "It's very unorthodox, and quite frankly, I wasn't expecting it to happen that way, either, but it is what it is."

"Oh," She took a deep breath. She wasn't used to death, in her family, but Ajani spoke like it was an everyday thing. "I assume that if I try to pursue this, they'll try to…to kill me, too?"

"That's why I'm giving you back the case file," He said. "You're not ready to understand what your father uncovered, and I…" He sighed. "I don't want to see anything happen to you."

He began to walk away, but she grabbed his arm.

"You know, you're still a criminal, like it or not," She said. "And you don't know a thing about me. My father meant the world to me, yeah, but I'm not going to let some death threat scare me from uncovering whatever he found out. I've come too far to let it stop me now."

"Ms. Sinclair, I'm warning you—"

She held the case files up. "End of discussion."

"You can't be f—" Ajani clenched his fists, and regained his composure. "Alright, fine. You got guts, Ms. Sinclair…just like your father said…"

"What else did he—" He left her with his sunglasses, and walked out onto a busy street. Almost immediately, cops began yelling orders, and surrounded him. He got down on his knees and placed his hands behind his head, as Audrey's jaw hit the pavement.

* * *

_One week later…_

Audrey was no champion at lip biting, but within the last hour, she could've won three gold medals. Her nails drove ridges into the pencil that she was holding, as she waited patiently for Ajani to arrive, inside the courthouse. Reporters were gathered at the front doors, forcing her to find an alternative path of entry, into the building. Her thoughts were in a swirl; she had waited so long to find the man that was with her father the night he died, and now that she found him, she had no reason to have him sent to prison, or to kill him. If what he said was true, then her father's murderer was still loose, in the city…somewhere.

"So let me get this straight," The sudden voice caused her to drive her nail right through the pencil, breaking it in half. She spun around to embrace her counterpart, Owen, who had just arrived. "He…willingly gave himself up to authorities?"

"Could you warn me, the next time you plan on sneaking up behind me?" She asked hotly.

"Well, look who's on edge," He replied.

She sighed. "He hasn't arrived yet."

"…interesting," He mumbled. "Audrey, could you join me for a moment in this conference room?"

"Why?" She looked back at him one more time, realizing that now he was sporting a more serious demeanor. She nodded and quickly slipped into the conference room with him, closing the door shut there afterwards. "What's wrong, Owen?"

"Audrey, are you meaning to tell me, that the same man connected to your father's killing is now the suspect in a chain of crimes within the last few weeks?" He asked her. "Something's not adding up." It didn't take long for him to analyze the distraught expression on her face, when she couldn't find a logical response. "When you met with him, assuming that you did, what did he tell you? Did he threaten you?"

"No, no!" She finally exclaimed. "He…he made those charges up, to grab my attention."

"So…official police reports were falsified, then?" She nodded.

"He wanted to talk to me, face to face, to tell me that he wasn't my father's killer."

"That's bullshit," Audrey didn't respond, and he grew adamant. "Audrey, you're letting a criminal get into your head!"

"Listen, I know…I know it sounds stupid, but…he doesn't pass as the "criminal" type," She said. "He had no motive for killing my father; instead, he told me that my father was investigating something wide scale. Didn't you tell me that he seemed preoccupied the months before he was killed?"

"…yes," Owen responded, flustered. "He never told me about it, though. But what does this have to do with anything?"

Just as she began to defend Ajani's intentions, commotion in the hallway began to rise. Reporters formed a crowd around their main attraction: two police guards escorted Ajani, now in orange jumpers, towards the court room, where his trial lay. He glanced into the conference room, and stared at Audrey, to which she matched with her own stare, until one of the officers turned his head forward, and directed him towards the large doors around a bend in the hallway. She continued staring until Owen tapped her on the shoulder.

"We'll talk about this later. It's show time."

* * *

I sat between Lotus and her male accomplice, as the trial began. This was my first court appearance—ever. I've been close to getting arrested before, minus the times that Venus rescued Torque and I, but I never took it this far, through the process of getting here. Once the judge arrived the case got going, starting with my plea for "not guilty," of course; not that it would have made that much of a difference, anyway. The testimony was simple: whatever list that Tech originally made up was exactly what they were reading off of, except now, with one phone call, those reports were now null and void, literally clearing my name. Once I told Lotus this, she decided to take a swing at it, and the looks that appeared on the prosecutors' faces across from us were almost priceless.

"…and it seems as if some of these reports have been falsified," She said, pacing in front of the jury. "All I see now are what appear to be simple misdemeanor offenses. Something 30 hours of community service could have fixed. What I don't see, is any corroborating evidence for the charges that I assume this trial are over."

The jury had a moment to consult amongst themselves, before the prosecutors across from us intervened. "Your honor, I would like to call for a 10 minute break."

"Delay all you want," I mumbled. "This trial is over."

He still accepted their call, and we were set on that break. I stood up, smirked, and looked over to Lotus. She turned to me, shook her head, and walked off. Hmm…did I catch her smirking?

Her accomplice, however, was trying his best to burn his way into my skull with a stare that could've killed anyone in my place. "The recent turn of events doesn't appeal to you, Mr.…?"

"That's none of your concern," He responded, sternly. "How the hell could those police reports just…disappear?"

I turned to him, and smiled. "I call it magic."

"Alright look, you son of a bitch," He said, now whispering. "I don't know what kind of bullshit story you told Audrey to get her to believe you're an innocent man, but regardless of the outcome of this case…if you so much as touch her, I'll deal with you myself."

"Your talk is cheap, Mr. Campbell," A screwed up look appeared on his face. I knew he wasn't going to tell me his name, but then again, leaving his briefcase wide open on the table didn't really help conceal it. "Whether or not I believe you're even capable of such an act doesn't concern me, but if I were you, I wouldn't walk the same path that your partner did."

He was about to respond when Lotus joined us. "I think we should take advantage of that break. Ajani, can I speak to you for a moment?" It took a moment for him to step aside, and allow me to pass. I joined Audrey and left the courtroom for a moment and he tagged along, as expected.

Outside the courtroom and down the hall, there was a vacant conference room with a few vending machines in it, at the far end. Lotus sat me down and got herself a cup of coffee, while Mr. Campbell, and quite a few police officers, remained on guard outside. When she finished, she sat down across from me and…and then just stared at me. What was she expecting to gain by doing that?

"You and your partner are two peas in a pod, you know that?" She shrugged and continued looking at me. "_What_?"

"Just how _did_ those charges against you just…vanish?" She asked. "Because how you managed to go from a wanted man to a society fuck-up in one afternoon is beyond me."

"Well, you can thank my 15 year-old hacker," She shook her head and put down her coffee.

"You're starting to get on my nerves."

"Not the first time I've been told that, by a woman," I said, to her. She rolled her eyes and began looking through my case file.

"We have a definite shot of winning this case, after the break concludes," She said. "But when this is done, you'll tell me what my father was working on."

"Interesting…very interesting," We both stood up. "You should've followed in your father's footsteps, Ms. Sinclair; you would've made a great…" My phone started ringing. _My_ phone. And it looked like it was coming from her pocket, too. She reached into her pocket and revealed that she was carrying my belongings with her, all this time. "What are you doing with that?"

"When the police confiscated your belongings I found this to be very interesting," She said, answering it. "Not a model I've seen before. Hello?"

"Give me that phone," She snapped her finger, and called for police support. Within a moment, they rushed in and began to restrain me. "THIS WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL!"

"Not the first time I've been told that, by a man," She walked around listening to what Tech had to say. "Who is this?" I heard the hesitation in his voice from here. Just play it out, Tech…tell her to hand me the phone… "…um…no, I don't remember ever signing up for that jewel…wait, that was you?" God damn it, you can't lie!

"GIVE ME THE PHONE!" She glared at me, but after realizing that I could go much further with the conversation than she would, she handed it over. The cops released me, and I took it from her, and shook my head. "What do you want, Tech?"

"Am I in trouble?"

"I told you not to call this phone while I was in," I said. "This had better be important."

"Well for starters, I would like for you to know that Commander Locke is really…uh…aggravated, that the Defiant hasn't shown up in Zion yet—"

"Thank you for pointing that out, again," I responded. "You're running out of time to speak, Tech."

"Alright, um…" I could hear him typing. "You've got Agents closing in, on your location."

"What?"

"I can't get you an exit anywhere near where you are," He went on. "Something's jamming all the payphones within a three mile radius of the courthouse, so you've got to get out of there, now!"

"No, no, Tech, you don't understand," I said to him. "I'm a little preoccupied at the moment—"

"Audrey," Her accomplice called. "Break's up."

She took my phone from me, and hung it up. "Let's get this over with."


	4. The Perfect Flower III

"Audrey…what's wrong with him?" Owen whispered in her ear.

"What?" She turned and looked at Ajani, who had become very agitated since his phone call. He kept looking out the window from time to time, almost as if expecting for someone to arrive. She nudged his shoulder to get him to pay attention to the case, but it didn't work. "Ajani, you should be happy that you're getting off on close to nothing. After today, I know I would."

"Does the defense have anything that they would like to say?" The judge asked them. Audrey and Owen shook their heads and turned back to Ajani. "And you?"

"Yes," The female prosecutor said, standing up. "I call Mr. Ajani to the stand."

In light of the recent development, Audrey and Owen's heads spun a full 180, until they were facing the prosecutors. They were looking right back at them, with relish on their faces—something that neither of them had seen, that morning. They got up and let Ajani by, who staggered to the stand and slumped back down, into the chair. Owen and Audrey looked at each other for support, but couldn't figure out what was going on.

The prosecutor stepped out and walked towards Ajani. "Those must've been some real strings you pulled to get the charges against you dropped," Audrey shook her head.

"Oh, Christ…Objection."

"Sustained—I would like to go home sometime today, Ms. Porter," The judge snapped. "Your testimony is borderline irrelevant, since the matter rests upon _your_ mistake."

She exhaled sharply, and then looked at Ajani. "Putting these charges aside for a moment, I'd like to take the time to get to know the defendant."

"Just great…we're going to be here all day," Audrey groaned. Owen, however, remained locked on Ms. Porter's testimony, absorbing everything that she had to say. "Owen, don't tell me that you're actually listening to this crap."

"Um…no, not really," Yet he remained glued to the testimony. Audrey rolled her eyes and began organizing her files for departure.

"Your honor," Ms. Porter continued. "I can't believe that this has come this far, and yet I have still not seen the appropriate outcome. For this man, this…"Ajani," as he calls himself, is only masquerading as a criminal, now, to cover up a cold case he was involved in, not too long ago."

Audrey stopped what she was doing, and looked up at the stand. Even Ajani had snapped back into focus and found himself, speechless, as the prosecutor gave him a cold stare. Audrey mouthed "what the hell is she talking about?" to him, but he only replied with a slight shrug. She then looked to Owen, whom had begun to look through his briefcase as if he had lost something most prized to him, and caught on quickly.

"Owen…Owen, stop what you're doing," She grabbed his arm. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"She's doing this to get back at me," He mumbled.

"Wha…oh…oh hell no," Audrey looked up at her, and then back to him. "This is the bitch that answered your phone, last month, when I called you! Owen, what did you do?"

"Ms. Sinclair, is there a problem?" The judge boomed. She shot Owen a nasty look and shook her head. "Continue, Ms. Porter; you seem to have sparked the interest of the defense."

"Thank you," She replied. "Mr. Ajani, I have here, a case file," Which she pulled out of her briefcase, one to which both Audrey and Owen looked at, in shock. "On the death of Police Sergeant Robert Sinclair, Ms. Sinclair's father," She said, pointing at her. "Now, I'm not sure whether or not Ms. Sinclair knew you had any involvement in his death, but this file also contains evidence that you may have, indeed, killed him in cold blood," She clasped her hands and began to pace. "It also contains video footage of an interrogation that he performed with you, explaining that you had interest in five other people, all of whom are now dead, or cannot be found."

Audrey looked up at Ajani, again. He shook his head in a "I don't know what she's talking about" manner, but she saw through his lie. "Your honor, I would like to call for another 10 minute break."

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Lotus yelled, her voice ricocheting off the walls of the conference room and coming back to hit Owen and Ajani with full force. "We had them…we were this close to winning this case, and you…" She pointed towards Owen, who had nothing to say. "You slept with her, didn't you?" He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself and remained silent. "You were working on that case file, behind my back, and you slept with her, and she stole it from you—I told you to dump that bitch!"

"She…I…" He sighed. "Okay, you were right. She was a two-faced, bitch. Are you happy now?"

"It's a little too late for that, Owen," She then turned to Ajani, who had nothing to say. "And you…you lied to me."

"No, I didn't—"

"You only told me half of the story!" She snapped. "The investigation that my father was conducting, included five other people, all of whom are either dead or whereabouts unknown, and something which you failed to mention. If Owen didn't finish it, then _you_ sure did."

She held her forehead and began to pace. "The judge is probably going to reschedule your trial. I'm pretty sure they were planning to compile the previous charges with the ones they have now to lock you away for a pretty long time, but since those mysteriously disappeared they used them as their backup plan," the last few words of Audrey's sentence seemed to fade out, as Ajani spotted a group of Agents walk by their conference room. They turned to look inside, but only saw Audrey and Owen. "Ajani, what are you doing?"

He revealed himself from beneath the table. "Audrey, give me my phone."

"What?"

"Please, just do it, now."

He seemed hesitant; something she hadn't seen in him all the time she had been with him. She reached into her briefcase and pulled out his phone, which he snatched from her and began dialing a number.

"Audrey, what the hell are you doing?"

"Owen, I need a bit less of your criticism, right now," She responded. "We're out of options, so just…please."

He sighed. "You always do this, Audrey…you know I'm wrong for what I do half of the time, but you can't say it," He got up, and picked up his briefcase. "I'll be back at the office when you're ready to talk."

She rubbed her head in frustration as he walked by, opening the door and leaving the room.

"Operator."

"Tech, it's me."

"Captain, what are you still doing at the courthouse? They're in the building!"

"I know that, Tech, and I told you that I was in the middle of something."

"Captain, before we got cut off last time, I didn't get a chance to tell you, but…" He began to type incredibly fast, to a point which irritated Ajani. "I've been running some variables, and something doesn't add up."

"Come on; just get to the point, Tech."

"I don't think that they're after you," He said. "I think that they're after _her_."

"I know that, and that's why…" He looked around in search of Owen. "Where the hell did your friend go?"

"I'm not telling you that."

"Shit, please don't tell me that he left!" He threw the door open and stuck his head out into the hallway, and as he did, shots were fired. In the frenzy of screaming voices and papers scattering, He witnessed Owen, being shot at, multiple times by the Agents. He stumbled backwards and later collapsed to the floor. Audrey tried to aid him but Ajani held her back, as the Agents caught on to them and raised their guns again. They dove back into the conference room, avoided three more bullets and then scrambled to their feet.

"I told you that this would happen!" She was too distraught to listen to him, and instead tried to fight against him to go aid her dying counterpart. "Audrey, it's either him, or you both, alright? You have to stop and think, for a moment!" He could hear the Agents' footsteps rapidly approaching, and grabbed her by the arm. "Shit, no time!" He found another door across the room and ran to open it, tugging her helplessly along. "Where's your car?"

"I…I don't have one!"

"Just fucking great," He ran along the narrow hallway, eventually entering back out into the main, and ran towards the entrance until he saw another Agent, and ducked into another hallway. "Tech, are you still there?"

"Yeah," He responded. "Just follow this hallway until you reach the parking garage."

"I need something fast. Where is it?"

"Let's see…there's a sports car, on your level. I'll hotwire it for you—"

"No need," He saw the owner activating its car alarm from the doorway, and snatched the keys from him. As he attempted to intervene, he was shot at by the oncoming Agents. Audrey was more than traumatized from everything going on, but still had enough sense to follow him. "Get in, and don't move."

He started up the car. The Agents had reached the parking garage, but Ajani had already pulled out of the parking space, and sped towards them, pulling on the handbrake when the moment was right, and drifted around the bend in the garage as they fired at the car, and attempted to chase them on foot.

"Tech," He took a deep breath after holding it since the altercation had started. "Where am I going?"

"I…I don't know," Ajani wasn't ready to hear that from his star player. "The signal jammer appears to be following your every move—I can't get a fix on an exit while it's doing that."

"Alright, don't worry about that, right now. Just get us the hell out of dodge," He responded, turning to Audrey. "And Tech, check on _Lotus's_ accomplice, for me."

"That's the first thing that I did," He replied. "And get this: his briefcase was made out of Kevlar," Ajani put the phone on speaker, so that she could hear the conversation. "The Agents managed to fire about four rounds at him. Two rounds hit the case and were stopped on contact, saving his life, but the other two still made physical contact, shattering the bones in his arm and leg—"

"Alright, alright, spare me the details. Will he be fine?"

"Yeah, and he'll probably be pissed," He responded. Audrey sighed in relief. "Paramedics are on the scene, so he…wait, Venus, no!" He could hear fussing and fighting on the other side of the line, a loud thud, feedback, and soon, a soft laughter. "Ajani…you surprise me."

"Glad you could finally wake up, Venus."

"What are you doing?"

"Um…you know, the usual," Audrey looked at him in disbelief.

"Hmm…I see," She said, quietly. "Oh, by the way, there's a car full of Agents behind you," Ajani looked in the rearview mirror, and sure enough, there they were, in pursuit of him, as he exited the car park. They rolled down their windows, and stuck their guns out, preparing to fire.

"GET DOWN!" Bullets pierced the back window of their car. He swerved across the road, trying to avoid them, and oncoming traffic. "Venus, I don't have time for this shit right now! Put Tech back on!"

"Of course you don't."

"Ajani—" She flinched as another bullet hit their car. "Where are you taking me?"

"I'm _not_ trying to die today, Lotus," He responded. "I'm trying to make sure you stay alive so that my mission doesn't get blown to hell."

"What mission? And why do you keep using that name?"

"Stop with the questions! I'm driving!"

"Well then when do I plan to get some answers, Ajani?" She yelled. "Do I have to walk on water first before I can get you to stop fucking stonewalling me?"

He couldn't control his anger long enough to concentrate on his driving, and nearly crashed into an approaching semi. He swerved out of the way and pulled on the handbrake again, drifting through traffic and into an alley. Garbage and various other objects went flying into the air as they sped by, later falling on the Agents' car.

"Gun!"

"What?"

"Give me your gun! I know you have it!" Ajani didn't have to look at her in order to ask for her gun, and instead held out his hand and waited for her to give it to him. "Why do you have this on you, in the first place?"

"I take my chances with every case I get," Ajani rolled down his window and leaned out of it, and shot at an oncoming escape ladder. He released the lock holding it up, and it began to fall after their car passed, eventually shattering the windshield of the Agents' car, which then flipped over multiple times and skid to a halt. She looked back, in shock. "Well, you sure do live up to your reputation."

"The one before it was erased, or in general?"

"Before…wait, what do you mean "in general?" Ajani pulled out of the alley, and turned onto a busy avenue and got lost in the traffic.

"Listen to me, Lotus," He said. "Those Agents weren't chasing after me; they were after you. They were trying to kill you before I could get a chance to speak to you."

"Agents?" He nodded. "Are they the ones that killed my father?"

"Yes…no…I don't know!" He cut across, into a turning lane, and turned onto another street, free of traffic. "Unfortunately, I already know what you're thinking. These are people not to be messed with, Lotus, whether you like it or not."

"You make it sound like they're dangerous," She said. "When, in fact, you just killed a car full of them."

"I didn't kill them—"There was a distant explosion of shattering glass and crumpling metal. Ajani looked in his rearview mirror as a dump truck plowed through traffic, and was speeding up, in preparation to ram them. "Fucking Agents!" He drove faster to try and avoid them, but the truck had already gained enough speed to overtake them, and began to brake in front of them. Ajani pulled on the handbrake in anticipation, but that was the least of their worries. The container began to rise, and its contents—large boulders—began spilling over the top of the container. He swerved out of the way of the incoming boulders and into oncoming traffic again, and sped up ahead of the truck. The Agent in the cab began to try to shoot at their car, blowing out a tire in the process and causing Ajani to lose control.

"Lotus, hold the wheel!"

"What?" He leaned out the window forcing her to grab hold of the wheel. He turned around, and aimed the gun at the truck.

"Two can play this shit," He shot out the front tires. The truck spun out of control and flipped over, catapulting the rest of its load onto the street. "I can't fucking win, today!" He slipped back into the car and swerved onto a side street as the boulders crushed a parked car, and rolled into traffic.

Lotus stared at him, mouth open, as he slowed down to a normal speed. "You're fucking crazy…"

"So I've been told," He responded. "But who do you think is crazier? Me, trying to save your ass, or those Agents trying to kill you?" He picked up his phone. "Tech, do you have any place that we can lay low until you can figure this thing out?"

"Yeah, an old garage," He responded. "It's near the industrial park."

She sat in silence, trying to question what he said, and all that had happened that day. No case she had, nor any convicted felon she had failed to defend could ever measure up to what had happened those last few, riveting hours. Ajani drove to the location as Tech had directed and eased into the garage. Once they entered the engine gave out, and the vehicle would not restart.

"Well…I guess a flat tire and a couple dozen bullet holes would probably do that to a car, huh?" She shot him a nasty look and stepped out. He closed the garage door and turned on the lights. "I know this isn't up to your standards, but…you've got no other choice, now."

"So?" She asked. "Are you gonna tell me what you know?"

He turned to her, and flailed his arms around in disbelief. "I just outran almost a dozen Agents trying to save your ass, mind you, and that's all the hell you can come up with?"

"No—no, you you're not avoiding this, anymore!" She stormed towards him. "I had no intention of trying to find out what my father was investigating until you brought it up. I just wanted to find his killer, which at one point I thought was you. Now, I'm in deep shit because of it, and people are trying to kill me! You're not going to avoid me any further, Ajani…I want answers, _now_."

"Look, what I told you is all that I know," He said. "I swear. I know you don't believe me, but…what that prosecutor mentioned…about those five people…I have no fucking clue what she was talking about."

"Come on! You must know something!"

"I…" He began to think. "Okay, tell me this, Lotus…about a year ago, did the sky flash and seem to shroud everything in a greenish tint?" Her eyes widened as she reflected on that moment: a peaceful day of blue skies and sunshine turned into an onslaught of rain. The sky flashed as lightning would, but as she witnessed, it appeared as if something deeper happened. The environment became darker, and the tint he mentioned stripped the life out of the air.

"Yeah, I remember that…it's around the same time that my father started his investigation."

"Then it must somehow be connected to those five people," He said. "That's the only thing that I can think of…my mission was just to find you."

"And just who sent you on this so-called "mission," Ajani?"

"Two people," He replied. "One, being your father, who told me what I needed to find you, and the other one…well, you wouldn't believe me, in your current state."

"Current state?"

"In order for you to learn about what I'm talking about, you would've had to have made a decision," He continued. "Years back; when you were just a kid…I can't offer it to you, now that you're an adult."

"What's the difference?"

"You're won't be mentally capable of handling what you would see if I offered it to you."

"Mentally capable?" She began to laugh. "You obviously have no idea what I've gone through to get where I am, then."

"And even if I did, I'd be breaking a vital rule."

"You've broken at least 26 of them, in the last two weeks."

"Good point," he said. "However, none of that supersedes the guidelines that I'm obliged to follow."

"Look, Ajani," She said. "I don't care about your rules. I want to know what my father was working on, and it sounds like this "vital" rule is preventing me from doing so. I'll deal with whoever, and whatever it takes, in order for me to see what you're talking about, but you're not leaving my sight until I get what I want."

He looked at her, and then thought about it. "You're killing me, Lotus…do you still have my possessions?"

"Yeah," She walked back to the car. As she did this, she felt a sharp pain from her right side, and pulled back her shirt, and to her shock, there was blood forming on it…she had been hit by one of the bullets and didn't even feel it. She grabbed her blazer as her surroundings began to swirl. "What…what do you want?"

"Come on…" He dug around in it, eventually dumping out its contents until he found a small, silver canister, holding a single red pill, and blue pill. "Alright, Lotus…I wish the circumstances were a bit better, but…I can feel our time dwindling," He dumped out the pills and held them in his hand.

"Drugs? Really?"

"Not drugs," He said. "This is where you have to make a choice. It'll help you better understand," He held them in front of her. "…you take the blue pill, and from this day forward, you won't remember a thing I said, or me, for that matter, your life will return to normal, and the Agents will no longer come after you…or, you can take the red pill, and you'll learn about what your father was working on…though, I won't be responsible if you're unable to—"

"Fuck that…I'm taking the red pill," She flicked the blue pill out of his palm and picked the red one up. "I swear to god, Ajani, if you're lying…"

"Don't count on it," She took the pill. A moment later, she stumbled into his arms. "Whoa…never seen that happen before…" He looked down at her bloodstained shirt, and then back up to her. "You were shot…" Her eyes began to close, and he began holding her full weight. "…no, no, Lotus, stay with me!" He picked her up and lay her down on a table, nearby, and then went to search for a first aid kit. His phone started ringing again, adding to his frustration. "Tech!"

"Captain, you're not going to believe this," Tech began typing. "The signal jammer is beginning to fade…I'm getting a signal on a phone nearby…" As he said that, Ajani began to realize what had happened, and looked down at Lotus. The shock from the bullet wound was beginning to wake her up, on the other side, and she began to fade out until she was gone. An old telephone across the room began ringing.

"Tech, have you got a fix on her location?"

"Yeah. I got a hit just as her mind was freed, and I've already triangulated her coordinates."

"Good. Tell Venus to get to the cockpit," He said, picking up the phone. "Tell her to get the ship ready for departure, immediately…we're headed to the power plant," He held the phone to his ear, and was sucked back into the real.


	5. Defiance

_Just when you think your job is done…shit gets real._

* * *

He couldn't focus his senses for his life; much less pilot his own ship. Ajani sat in the first mate's chair of the cockpit, hands clasped, as Venus used what knowledge she had to get them back to Zion as quickly as possible. Another week had passed, and now, with frequent calls from Zion questioning their whereabouts, it was only a matter of time before he and his crew were detained for disobeying a direct order.

He was thinking about Lotus. Freeing her mind from the Matrix saved her life, but the shock from her bullet wound placed her in a coma that she wouldn't wake up from. They did all that they could to repair the damage that it had done outside in the real, but now it was up to her, whether she was going to join them anytime soon or not. He inhaled, exhaled, and then slowly turned to Venus, who was staring through the glass, navigating the ship through an old, partially operational ventilation shaft.

"Are you thinking about taking over these controls, anytime soon?" She asked. "And no, I will not cut you some slack," Ajani didn't bother to start his sentence, with that in mind. "You broke one of the most important rules of our existence, Ajani: no one with a matured mind can be freed from the Matrix."

"It's not the first time I've screwed up, Venus."

"And I probably shouldn't count on it, being the last," She stopped the ship, and turned to him. "Ajani, you don't explain your motives, and we don't question them, but this one…there's nothing I can say to excuse you from this."

"You vouch for me, Venus?"

"Don't change the subject," She responded sharply. "What is so important about this woman that you would risk your life going into the Matrix to rescue her?"

"I have a gut feeling, alright?" He responded. "Venus, I wasn't asking for your permission, whether or not I should've gone on that solo mission. Do you trust me, or not?"

"You know I do. But I feel like we're getting the short end of the stick," She said. "You haven't been giving us much of anything to work off of, Ajani."

"I need a few more answers," He said, getting up. "Some that I'm hoping Morpheus can answer, when we get back. Until then, I can't explain myself," He stood beside her. "You know, Venus, I've known you for a long time, and you've always had my back. You can call that a…mutual partnership, right?" She shrugged. "My crew is always my first priority, and I would _never_ do anything to betray my crew's trust. I'm just asking for a little more time, with this one. She's important."

She stared at him for a moment, and then shook her head. "Well at least you're not lying this time…alright, Ajani," She turned back to her front, and took the controls in hand. "Please, go talk to the boy; he's been itching to ask you some questions."

"Are you alright, here?"

She pushed the controls forward, and got them going again. "I have been, for the last week or so."

* * *

Like usual, Tech was typing on the computer, probably hacking the living daylights out of an innocent bystander, in the Matrix. You know, I'm no rocket scientist—that's something more along the lines of Torque's expertise—but I'm pretty sure that all of this hacking into the worldwide database that trapped billions of innocent lives had some sort of side effect on us, outside in the real. I slid down the ladder and walked towards him. He caught a glimpse of me, but continued typing. That was odd.

"Hey, Tech," He didn't respond. "Venus said you wanted to talk. What's on your mind?"

He was definitely ignoring me. Apparently everyone on this ship was pissed about the last minute choice that I made. I grabbed his chair and spun him away from the keyboard. It was probably for his best, anyway; he remained glued to it most of the time.

I pulled up a box, and sat down on top of it, in front of him. "Here you go, Tech. You have my undivided attention. Unload your questions."

"I would, but I'm afraid that the gun might backfire."

"Tech, look," I sighed. "I understand your anger, but I'm having a hard time figuring out where you're directing it…at the case surrounding her father, or the fact that I freed her, at her age?"

He took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Captain, I've seen a lot of outrageous things since I've been working alongside you, but…this made no sense at all," He continued. "What did you do to this woman that had her hunt you down, for most of the year?"

"Well, I—"

"Did you kill her father, captain?" He asked. "Because…don't get me wrong; I trust you, but…these people make it sound so convincing—"

"Hey! Tech! Get that thought out of your head!" I said to him. "I did _not_ kill her father. Someone blew up his car, and I'm pretty sure that it was the Agents."

"It doesn't seem to add up, captain," He responded. "Agents don't plant bombs; they just come after you guys with pistols, and one hell of a want to kill you, in a fist fight."

"Then there's nothing much I can say, on that note," I said to him. "Tech…you know I would never lie to you—anyone on the crew, for that matter. He caught me, I told him about us, and his car blew up, killing him, that's it. You know I didn't have a motive, so why would you even think…"

"I'm sorry, it's just," He looked around, making sure that no one else but me could hear. "I don't feel like I'm let in on some of the things you guys do…and…I know you had doubts about me joining your crew, and…well, I just thought—"

"I did," I said. "I didn't want a kid on my crew."

"I'm not a kid, captain; I'm fifteen years old."

"And you've proven that, and for it, you've earned a place on this team, Tech. You persuaded me to keep you, from since we rescued our first redpill. Do you remember?"

"Yeah…Jade," He smiled vibrantly. I had to snap at him to get him back on focus. "Thanks, captain."

The boy had feelings for her, I will say that much. "Now Lotus is unique…I can feel it. Her father said that he could sense that there was always something special about her, but he couldn't describe what it was, exactly, and the Oracle phrased it a similar way, without actually telling me."

"You went to see the Oracle?" I nodded. "I didn't think you believed in her."

"Why not?"

"Well…you seem more like the…"actions speak louder than words," type, to me," He replied. "So…if she told you to go and look for her…then she must be _that_ special, huh?" I nodded again. Now that that was over, it was time to get back into more serious matters.

"Alright, Tech, back to business," He spun his chair around, and made the impression that he was cracking his knuckles. "How is she coping?"

"Cardiovascular and respiratory systems are functioning properly, and her muscles are almost done regenerating," He said. "Her neural waves were the most interesting though; take a look at this," He placed what was supposedly her neural waves, on one of the screens in front of me. I was looking at a single waveform, acting very erratically, but that's how they were supposed to react, right?

"What am I looking at, Tech?"

"I think she's been having nightmares, or something, because they've been like this all week," He said. "I'm working up a theory, and please don't kill me for saying this, but…I think that _she_ might have been the signal jammer, during the time you were trying to escape. It was only after her bullet wound became critical and she lost consciousness that I got a fix on a hardline, nearby."

"Your theory checks out, Tech," I said. "I believe that the bullet wound stunned her, disrupting her brain waves and thereby effectively getting rid of the signal jammer," He began to stare at me, curiously. "What?"

"That was a pretty…intelligent response, captain," He said. "I mean, I'm not saying that you're not intelligent, but…you're not one for specifics."

"Well, that's what I get for hanging around you, all the time," He chuckled. "I'm also not one to throw theories around, but if she was our signal jammer, then…she did that by manipulating her brain waves?"

"It's a longshot; another idea that challenges that theory, is that the Agents could've known about your intentions, long beforehand, and had the telephone lines jammed," He said. "Or…it could just be plain coincidence. I mean, the Matrix has been performing very strangely, lately."

"Is that your excuse for never jacking us in, at the right location?" He stopped typing. "I mean you _did_ place us in the median of a highway, one time."

"I inputted the correct coordinates and it sent you there! That's totally not my fault!"

"I'm not saying that it was, but…then again, you _have_ been hacking into the program a hell of a lot, lately," He exhaled very loudly, so I could tell that this conversation was pushing his buttons. He seemed to always hate it when someone, with as little knowledge of computing as I did, misinterpreted what he did, but…he made little effort to prove otherwise, so what was I supposed to think? I chuckled, and rubbed his head—something else that irritated him. "I'm just messing with you, Tech. The Matrix is way too huge of a program for you to manipulate to your own doing, am I right?"

"Very," He responded. "Operators haven't even been able to tap into the core network yet, because of its enormous size. But something is obviously different from it than the one that I've always heard Captain Roland speak about."

I nodded. "And Lotus?"

"I guess we can call what we experienced a "glitch" for now," He said. "I'll need to do some research on what really happened. As for her…her brain waves may be showing activity, but I'm not sure if she'll wake up, anytime soon."

"EVERYONE! GET UP HERE, NOW!" Venus's voice startled Tech. He looked at me, and I decided to see what she wanted. Torque emerged from an adjacent ladder, and the three of us hustled back to the cockpit. She had stopped the ship again at a bend in the tunnel, but it appeared to be a fork, because above us, there was a vent which looked large enough to allow the ship to pass through, unimpeded. "Something doesn't feel right."

"There are those four, famous words," Torque mumbled.

She overheard him, but took it kindly and continued with what she was going to say. "A couple of minutes ago, I saw something on our scanners," She activated the holograph and we took a gander at the rendering of the ventilation shaft, around the ship. We didn't see anything, but then again, we never did when it came to Venus. "Something is out here with us…I can feel it."

"Venus, Torque and I built this ship," I said. "If you can sense something that our scanners can't then we've definitely wasted Zion's resources."

"I don't care. Ajani, I'd rather you take the controls," She said, getting up.

"…whatever, Venus," I said to her. "It was high time I relieved you, anyway," I would say that she was scared, but that wasn't one of my brighter ideas. She was a good co-pilot, no doubt, but when it came to evading tunnel debris, and escaping large swarms of sentinels—which I've only had to do once—that's where I came in handy. I pushed the controls forward, cautiously looking around for anything that might appease her, but it ended up only frustrating me further. "Venus, I respect your judgment, but this time I think you're way out of—" I turned to her…then I looked back at the tunnel…a flash of light from my right, and in no time the ship was being thrown around like a rag doll, ejecting me out of the chair and away from the controls, and sweeping everyone else off their feet. I pulled the console backward, throwing us into reverse and away from the falling debris, and as I looked from the floor, out to the tunnel, it was nothing but dust and smoke.

"I'm sorry…" Venus groaned, pulling herself back up onto her feet behind my chair. "I didn't…quite catch…that last part."

I rubbed my head. A cut had developed from the shock, but other than that I was fine. "Torque…Tech," Torque was helping Tech back up. They were fine and, so the ship appeared, minus some more dents and scratches. "Okay…who in the hell decided to start blasting away at the rock, in this place?" As visuals began to return, a familiar red light began to pulsate from the direction of the explosion. "Dammit…Venus, Torque, get on the…what the…" I don't know if I hit my head harder than I thought I did, but…thrusters, the source of the red glow, were now visible. I knew they had to have belonged to a ship, and at first I thought it was one of Zion's, but again, the glow was red…Zion ships familiarly sport white electricity, not red.

All of a sudden a red ray of light shot from the ship and began to wash over us. I looked at my hands, as it did, realizing that the light was that of a tunnel scanner, and as I looked back up the light faded, and we heard a whirring sound—something like the sound a machine gun made before it unloaded a barrage of rounds.

"Jesus…" I pressed three buttons above my head and pulled back on the controls as hard as I could. The ship launched itself upwards towards the roof of the tunnel, and we spotted that second tunnel I saw earlier, and redirected the ship towards it, as the guns began firing. The holograph showed that it was indeed, beginning to follow us, and I pulled another lever, straightening us out, and gained speed. "What the hell is that thing?"

"That's one of our ships!" Torque yelled. "The bastards are using our own technology against us?"

"You two, get on the rear guns," This tunnel was becoming increasingly difficult to maneuver. There were loose pipes and dangling conduits everywhere, as well as protrusions of rock, possibly caused from the explosion. Tech sat down in the co-pilot's seat, and helped as best he could. "If it's not a couple thousand sentinels trying to blow us up, it's a goddamn sentinel hovercraft."

"What do we do?"

"I don't know yet."

"Incoming projectile!"

I saw a pipe up ahead. "I need full power to all the pads on the starboard—" before I could finish my sentence he had already put in the commands, sending the ship into a spiral. "Shit!" Leveling out was a challenge, but we swerved past the pipe, putting an end to our projectile problem. "I'll keep it short and simple…damn, you're fast," I looked down at the hologram briefly. While the other hovercraft remained at a safe distance, five small red dots were approaching us at a rate faster than our current projected speed. "Torque…Venus…what the hell are those things?"

"We got tow bombs!" He shouted, through the radio. "Venus, kill 'em!"

"I can't get a clear shot—Ajani, you're going to have to outmaneuver them!"

"Tech, three, lower left port," With a series of control skills taught to me by the best, we began dodging the random pipes that lined the tunnel. "Opposite side, and all twelve aft," These skills were being put to the test, because the tow bombs weren't letting up. "I'm getting sick of this shit…Tech, cut out half on the aft, starboard side," Doing so turned the entire ship around, taking more pipes with it, but also giving us a clear shot. I switched control to the forward guns, and started shooting at a conduit we had just passed. It fell out of place, hit one of the tow bombs head on, and caused a chain reaction that wiped out all of them, knocking the ship around, and causing the sentinel ship to retreat. "Lower six aft, middle, and forward," I pulled the controls up and flipped us back around and immediately saw another tunnel, and took it.

"Jesus, Ajani," Torque said, groaning. "Who in the hell taught you how to drive?"

"We're not done yet," I followed this tunnel until it made a 90 degree turn upwards, stopped, and turned the ship around, and went up. It brought s up to another tunnel, much larger and much easier to maneuver, and we began to gain speed again. "Tech, are we out of the clear?"

"It looks like it," He said, switching the holograph to a larger view. "We'll hit intersection 376 in a few miles."

"We're going to have to wait until things die down," I said to him. "We can't just go out there when we have ships looking for us."

"AJANI!" That was Venus's voice.

"WHAT?"

"STOP THE SHIP! I THINK THIS IS A TRAP!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" I yelled. "WE JUST…just…" We entered into a cavern. This cavern was filled with three sentient ships, and at least a couple hundred sentinels. Our route was on the other side, but there was no way to get to it without getting shot at, or blown up. "Holy…" We were going at full speed as their guns began to revolve. I could spot at least a dozen sentinels preparing to throw tow bombs at us…it was over before I knew it.

* * *

Torque and Venus ran towards the front of the ship to try and see what Ajani was seeing. As they neared an escape hatch, Torque could hear something else happening, in a compartment nearby. He diverged and went to see what was going on and when he entered, a siren was going off, and to his shock, it appeared to be attached to the computers monitoring Lotus's condition.

"Torque, come on!" Venus yelled.

"What the hell…?" Her brain waves had escalated to critical levels. He looked at her body, as her eyes shot open, and she gasped in shock. The walls of the ship, through her eyes, became transparent, as she saw the anomaly that bestowed them in the cavern. Simultaneously, her brain waves dropped back down to normal levels, and she fell back into her coma.

On the outside of the ship, an invisible pulse of energy had been emitted the second she woke up, causing the systems of the ships around the Defiant to malfunction. The tow bombs, almost prepared to launch, detonated before they could leave the claws of the sentinels throwing them, destroying dozens in its wake. Controls onboard the ships were then readjusted towards their own kind and the machine guns began destroying the remainder, while also firing on one another, damaging each other's ships. Ajani didn't waste any time hesitating, and thrust the controls in the direction of their exit, as the chain of explosions unsettled the cavern roof.

* * *

When we found the main tunnel, we followed it for a short distance, and then turned off into another mechanical line, and found some place to hide. I spun the ship around, and set us down inside a cocoon of twisted metal and wreckage. "Shut us down," Tech flipped numerous controls above his head and powered down the ship. Everything around us went dark, and we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked.

"…a miracle?"

I turned to him. He had no explanation, and neither did I. "For now, it is."

I loosened my grip on the controls and rubbed my hands. I'd been through similar events in the simulators, but that…that just put all of my skills to the test…holy shit…

"Captain?"

"What?"

"Can I tell you a secret?"

I looked at Tech again. "What is it?"

"…I've always wanted to be a captain…up until an hour ago."

I didn't know what to say to that. Instead, it brought me to laughter, and I sat back in my chair, as he soon joined. "Tech, your abilities are better utilized as my operator."

"You got that right…captain."

"AJANI!" That was Torque's voice, this time.

"Yeah, yeah, we're fine."

"No…we need you down here, right now…the redpill was conscious."

I looked at Tech again, as he now sported a confused expression, and got up out of my chair.

* * *

"We were about to join you, when this one's brain waves began to skyrocket," He said. "I went to go check, and…well, shit hit the fan."

"The squids turned our massacre into their own bloodshed," I said. "Tow bombs detonated before they could launch, and their ships turned on one another…it was some sick shit, Torque," I looked into the room. "Wait, you said you were coming to join us?" He nodded. "…her brain waves started acting funny all around the time that we got out of that mess?"

"Yeah and then she fell back into a coma," He replied. "I've never seen anything like it, before. What are you thinking?"

"I don't really want to dwell on that subject, right now."

I looked down at her. Her eyes wandered beneath their lids, and she began mumbling something softly under her breath, suggesting that she had woken up, again. "It amazes me that you managed to wake up after everything's over and done with, Lotus."

"…Ajani…" She began to open her eyes. It was a natural occurrence among every redpill—every human, actually—to use their eyes first, over every other sense. Like every other one of the redpills we freed, her eyes were free of age, and stress…she'd definitely need them for what lied ahead. She tried looking around at her surroundings but only brought herself to tears and closed them shut again. "…why do my eyes hurt…"

"This is your first time using them."

She groaned softly, and turned away. "I thought I told you…not to call me…by that name…"

"She never forgets, huh?" I looked at Torque. This woman was driving me up a wall.

One step at a time, Ajani…one step. "Alright then…do you remember what happened to you?"

"…trial…car chase…Agents…I was shot…and so was Owen…"

"Owen?" Venus asked.

"An associate of hers," I turned back to her. "You both survived, so for now, just get some rest. You'll need it," I ushered everyone out of the compartment and turned off unnecessary lights to allow her to sleep. "Tech, get to the computer station and check to see if everything's still operational. Torque, check the hull and the thrusters and make sure we're still able to fly, and Venus, run a diagnostics from the cockpit."

"We're finally headed back to Zion, I assume?"

"Not only do we have an excuse for being late," I responded. "But we also have enough evidence that the machines have intent to want to start another war."

"Yeah, won't Deadbolt be thrilled," Torque mumbled.

The four of us went our separate ways. I looked back at Lotus, and then left for the ammunitions cache.


	6. Hearthstone

_There's no place like home…literally._

* * *

"Zion Control, this is Captain Ajani, of the Defiant," I said, as we approached gate two. The tunnels were lined with even more artillery, and were equipped with sensors so that even the smallest amount of sentience could be neutralized. "Requesting clearance through gate two."

"Captain Ajani, this is Zion Control," They responded. "Maintain your present velocity. Initiating tunnel sweep."

"How do we explain all of the dents and laser burns?" Venus asked me.

"…just get your stuff. I'll handle that."

"The path is clear and clearance into the dock has been granted…" The sensors finished scanning our ship. I could hear the the gears of the gate began to churn ahead, and slowly, the gate began to open, revealing the light of the dock beyond. I took a deep breath, as I always did when returning home. "Welcome home."

Those two words always brought a smile to my face, regardless of my mood. "It's good to be home."

A lone APU was guarding the gate while it remained open. Though the war was over, or so everyone thought, Commander Locke never took his chances, even after all these years. It also gave the APU operators something to do. The bay for our ship was nearby, and I prepared us for landing. Venus had a point though…I hope they didn't notice the new decals.

"Ah, crap," The relatively small crowd standing at the foot of the bay must've been my welcoming committee. I leveled out the ship, and then lowered the landing gear in preparation for descent, and left it to do it for itself. "Brace yourselves; we're about to get hemmed up, by Deadbolt himself."

"Wait until he finds out, about the redpill," God dammit…I completely forgot about her. "…plan B?"

"Plan B it is," I responded. "I'll give you the sign."

"Plan B always gets you into deeper shit," Venus retorted. I looked at Torque, and we both shook our heads.

"Tech, go help her get ready," I said. "She should've been done by now."

* * *

Lotus had been spending the last twenty minutes strapping her boots up. She felt the descent of the ship and knew that her time was running out, but apart from a brief, confusing explanation from Ajani, she had no idea what was going on, nor where she was. Suddenly her cabin door began to unlock, and swung open. "Yes I know I'm running out of time, Ajani. You don't have to tell me twice," She stood up. Walking felt almost distant to her. Even though she had done it for most of her life, it was as if she had been born again, and couldn't use her legs properly. "You can come in, you know."

"I'm not the captain, and I know," Said a young voice, which surprised her. "But…I just wanted to make sure you were…you know…"

"Fully clothed?" She looked at herself. The one called Venus had given her her current clothing, earlier, but she had never seen anything like them, before. "Well, it's not the best clothing, but yes, I am," The teenager stepped inside, and looked at her. "Who are you?"

Come on, Lotus…isn't it obvious?"

"…no…no, wait…that voice…" She stepped back. "That's not possible…" He began to smirk. "T-The jewelry ad…"

"Uh huh."

"And the case file…"

"Yep."

"The voice on the phone…you're the 15 year-old, aren't you?" He nodded. "He wasn't lying?"

"The name's Tech," He said. "It's nice to finally meet you in person, Lotus."

"Is it?" She asked. "You made that case file to grab my attention, and then erased it for me to use as leverage…" Tech's smile faded and he began to scratch his head, nervously. "That's the first time that I have ever been used, like that…you're pretty smart, kid."

"We should get going," He beckoned her to the door, and they both stepped out, into the passageway. "Before we go, I do have one ground rule."

"Yeah?" She chuckled. "And what's that?"

"Don't call me "kid," Her laughter died down to a cough, and she followed quietly behind him.

* * *

I stepped out of the ship, and back into the dock, taking a deep breath of that fresh Zion air. Well, fresh is an exaggeration, but it was still home, nonetheless. That welcoming committee had dwindled to just one person as I was landing the ship, suggesting that we were going to get hemmed up at a later time…why delay the inevitable?

"Right this way, Captain," I gave Torque my bags and waved him the signal as my escort and I walked off. All he had to do was get Lotus out of the dock and to someplace far away from the Defiant…if I could avoid a public flogging by the city council then by all means. "Commander Locke expressed the need to bring you in and relieve you of your duties, but he never got to it."

"Well that's not like him," I said, entering the elevator. "What prevented him from doing it?"

Not sure, but you're not making it any easier for yourself."

"Colt, we have a huge problem," I said. "Didn't you notice the hull damage to the Defiant?"

"The cause of your shitty piloting?"

"Oh, you're a real funny guy, today," I said. "How'd you get Roland to let you do this, anyway?"

"I don't know," He turned to me. "I'm glad he did, though…it's good to see you again, Ajani."

"You too," I took a deep breath. The elevator stopped again, at a different level…wait; this wasn't the level for the Commander's…ah, crap. "Captain Niobe."

"Colt," She stepped in as the doors closed and we continued going. "You're going down?"

"Oh, I'm not the only one," I tried to shut him up, but it was too late. She didn't look at me so that was probably a good thing. "The commander has something important to tell the council, and requested all captains present…I'm just the escort," Christ, she turned to me.

"You look like hell, Ajani."

"…yep," The elevator stopped at the wrong level, again. Colt stepped out, and turned back to us. "Escort?"

"Sorry, it's a captain-only meeting," You two-faced prick…you set me up!

The doors closed again, and the elevator continued descending. As awkward as the silence was, the fact that I was within twenty feet of her was beginning to freak me out…and just like that, my mouth began moving. "Look, I was just—"

"What the hell were you thinking, Ajani?"

"Our ship was malfunctioning; I had to rely on knowledge," Stop talking, Ajani…stop talking! "We were off course by at least 36 hours."

"Bullshit," She turned back around. "I was talking about the one you rescued," I…wait, what the hell…how in the hell…crap…how in the hell did she find out? Of all the people in this city, there was no one she knew more than me. I don't understand it…it was one of those traits that people kept to themselves.

"I…um…"

"Well, one thing remains clear," The elevator stopped. "You still can't lie to me."

She stepped out of the elevator and walked down the passageway. Sadly, this was finally my stop, and so I got off too and followed behind her.

* * *

Lotus staggered behind the others, towards the freight elevator that would eventually take them out of the dock. Since stepping off of the ship, she got to see its entirety in person for the first time, which sent her jaw into a free fall. The light resonating from the control tower, which lit the entire dock, caught her eye in the process, and from there her thoughts were sent into a swirl. As if to add to her problems, an APU walked by, to eventually stop, and its human operator disarmed its weapons and climbed down to join his counterparts. Torque looked back at her, and stopped for a moment. "Trying to comprehend this isn't going to work, Lotus."

"Torque…Torque, right?" She stopped, and began to hyperventilate. "Where…where the hell…am I?"

"Hey, calm down, and breathe…breathe," He held her by the arms and she closed her eyes to prevent herself from seeing anything else.

"It's starting to set in, Torque," Venus whispered. "I told you that Plan B wasn't going to work."

"Venus, when will a day go by that you don't tell us?" He asked.

"Well, you may be deep in shit, and I might not have the pleasure of saying it," She said. "So I do it as much, now, so that someday, hopefully, it will sink the fuck in. And will you please do something with her before she starts bitching again?"

"What's up with you tw—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lotus shook Torque off of her, which had been holding her for support, and turned to Venus. "Look, I don't know what your problem is—"

"My problem is, is that my captain broke a vital rule, to set your mind free," She said. "All for something he still doesn't have the answers to. He does have a point though; you're annoying as hell."

"Look, bitch," At that point, Torque and Tech stepped as far back as the passageway would permit. "I could care less about what you think of me. I came for answers, and I don't need you standing in my way, so take your shit somewhere else."

Venus stepped closer to her, until they were face to face. "You better pray to god that I never see you again."

She walked off, taking a left at a fork in the passageway, and towards a separate elevator. Torque and Tech then drew closer, with mouths agape, and stared at Lotus with shock. "What?"

"Lotus, do you realize who you were talking to?"

"Look I don't care, right now," She said, exhaling. "Nothing she could have done trumps what's going on, right now…what the hell is this place?"

He looked at Tech. "She's dead," He turned back to her. "Welcome to Zion, Lotus…we have to drop you off, so I'll tell you more along the way."

Wait, where are we going now?" He and Tech picked up their bags and walked off. She groaned, and followed along behind them.

* * *

"Approximately 19 hours ago, we received a transmission from the Chephirah, reporting that their ship was being attacked by sentinels," You've got to be kidding me…I thought it was just because I pissed a few people off, but…what are the sentinels doing, attacking our ships, when we're supposed to be at peace?

"Stop grinding your teeth, Ajani," I just had to end up sitting next to her, too.

"Attacked?" A councilwoman asked, with surprise and a bit of disbelief. "Commander, this has got to be some sort of joke…"

"The war ended years ago, and our truce with the machines still stand," Another councilman stated. "We are at peace…this session is completely out of line, commander."

"I understand your skepticism," Even with the entire city council against him, Commander Locke always kept his cool. So many years after the war ended, he took on a less active role, and while still withholding the rank "commander," he was placed in charge of the reconstruction of the dock, and his plan was to rebuild it entirely, seeing as the holes in the cavern roof led straight from the surface. It was costly, but he managed to persuade the council right around the time that I was freed from the Matrix. The new dock, which I landed in, wasn't done, but it was a work in progress. "But it's the truth."

He placed reports on the table for them to see. "Reports show increased seismic activity between Junctions, 246, 380, 462, and mechanical lines 70 to 91. Heat signatures in these areas are off the charts. The Chephirah was able to supply us with enough information to suggest—"

"Suggest, commander," Another one of the council said. "However, it does not disclose any physical evidence that the machines are launching sneak attacks on our ships."

"Yes there is."

Captain Niobe turned to me. "What are you talking about?"

"Those bastards turned on us twice," I said. "Ambushed us at 376 the first time."

"The first time?"

"The second…they used our technology against us," She said. "Built a sentinel ship and tried to bury us."

"How did you get out of there?" I turned to her. If there was one thing I learned from Captain Niobe over the years, it was how to be a good pilot. "So the dents and the scratches weren't the cause of your shitty piloting," But for the love of Christ, I could never get a compliment out of her.

There was another ship out, at the time that the Chephirah sent us this message," Commander Locke continued. "The Defiant…on a reconnaissance mission."

"Well, that's my cue," I said, standing up. "He's right…and, I have evidence that corroborates the Chephirah's initial findings."

* * *

'I'm risking suspension,' I thought, reciting what he said to me, after the meeting. 'The council was on the verge of relieving him of duty, and that's all I get?' I stopped at my door, and unlocked it. 'Same old Zion.'

I stepped inside, and locked the door. All of a sudden, I could've swore I heard footsteps begin to approach me, and I pulled the knife out of the sheath on my leg and spun around, and caught the intruder by the arm, and held the knife around his neck…wait…he's a female. "Lotus…what the hell are you doing in my apartment?" She groaned in agony from the position that her arm had been locked in so I pushed her away and relinquished my knife.

"Is that how you treat everyone who ends up…here?!" She yelled, rubbing her arm. "Torque left me here, about an hour ago, alright?" She held her head and sat down in a chair nearby. Of all the places in this goddamn city, Torque, and you chose my place…just fucking great.

"Lotus…please," I sat down on the floor, against the wall. "Just take a moment to relax, because I know you're about to hit me with 21 questions."

"How the hell can you tell me to relax?" She asked. "I woke up…two weeks ago, as a criminal defense attorney, and then I met you…one car chase later, and now I keep waking up to the same environment, thinking that it's just a bad dream…instead, I—"

"You're wishing you took the blue pill," She looked at me.

"That…that couldn't have been real," I stared at her. "No…I-I must've chose the red one by mistake—"

"No, your exact words were "fuck that, I'm taking the red pill," I reiterated. "You were hell bent on finding answers, so you probably should've thought about what I was warning you, of what you were getting yourself into—"

"Really? That's your comeback?" She asked. "Ajani, in the time that I've been…here, I've seen more than enough to render me insane…hovercrafts, those huge armed, walking…things…and now, I'm in an apartment building with at least more than a thousand levels…"

"…don't do that."

"…_do_ what?"

"Denial," I got back up. "Don't deny what's going on here, because I already told you that there's no turning back. You may continue to do so if you please, but not around me, because I find it to be _very_ annoying," Seeing as I wasn't going to get the peace and quiet that I'd hoped for when I walked through the door, I got back up and beckoned her to follow. "Come with me."

"Where are we—" I placed my hand over her mouth and opened the door.

"Quietly," I looked around my level, and eventually out into the canyon that was my home, and took a deep breath. 'You win some, you lose some,' Venus went off to do her own thing, and Torque and Colt should've receded to the manufacturing levels by now, so that only left Tech…if I knew him, he would've gone home to see his mother before anything else.

We boarded an elevator at the other side of the level and took it down. Out of nowhere she began holding me by the arm as if something were planning to attack her. "Lotus, what are you doing?"

"Just shut up, Ajani."

Alright, fine…she did look a bit scared though. I was there once…but I was a kid whose imagination ran wild, so when reality finally began setting in, all of this was routine for me. It's not like I had anything to return to. She, on the other hand, had that associate of hers, which made things a bit complicated…it's the first time that that's ever happened. "I guess it was bound to happen, someday."

"Hey, don't start getting any ideas."

"What does that guy mean to you, Lotus?" I asked. "The one you left in the Matrix—"

"It doesn't matter, now," She said. "I'm never going to see him again. And what the hell is this…Matrix, you keep talking about?"

"…uh…the place you've lived in, for the last 29 years?" She turned to me, and opened her mouth. "I hope you're not about to ask me how I know that, otherwise I'd have to question how you became a criminal defense attorney…"

She sighed. "Just how long have you dedicated your time to looking for me, Ajani?"

"Months. Like I said before, you've kept on the move."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Well, had you known what you know now," I said. "I couldn't have freed your mind. I think you're a lot more prepared for what's in store now than you would have ever been."

She chuckled. "Yeah, it's going to take a moment before I decide to believe all this crap."

"…wow," The elevator stopped, and the doors reopened. Callie's apartment was just a quarter of the way around the ring that was her level. I tugged Lotus along with me, even though she refused to leave the elevator, and in the process she began to cut off the circulation in my arm. "Have you met Tech?"

"Yeah…is that his real name?"

"No, but he works best with it, and I couldn't find anything that suited him better," I replied. "His real name is Soren. His father named him after one of the captains that died, doing what he did best," I chose not to bring up the war, as doing so would provoke more questions, from her.

"It suits him," She said. "I mean his real name…it's a very strong name…and Torque?"

"That's his real name."

"…how did he get a name like that?"

"I don't know; ask him," I said. "That's what he chose when his mind was freed. Keep in mind that your ties to the Matrix have been severed, so it doesn't make sense to keep using your original name. That's why I call you Lotus."

"All these names…they're mononyms, but "Lotus" happens to be one of my actual names," She said. "But to be honest, it feels great not to have to hear "Ms. Sinclair," all day long, so you win…and what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, one can only assume that you were "freed" from this…Matrix thing, so you must've had a name too."

"It's Ajani, Lotus," I said. "That's all you need to know."

I knocked on their door. I heard laughter from the interior, and a moment later the door was unlocking, and swung open to reveal my young operator. "Mom, it's just Captain Ajani."

"Oh, Ajani, come in," She called. "Just the person I wanted to see."

"Really?" The moment I stepped inside I smelled something…it…it smelled like corn…no don't tell me…aww, Callie, you're trying to bribe me with corn muffins? "…_really_?"

"Put your fingers into it, Jade," The young girl who was handling the batch of dough on the counter appeared to be having trouble with it, at first, but surprised me with strength I never knew she had. Callie chuckled, and stopped her for a moment. "Don't pulverize it, okay?" She then turned around. "I'm sorry, Ajani, but it's not for you, this time."

"What's the occasion?"

"I'm baking for the kids down in the orphanage," She replied. "I hate to see them eat that other crap, so I volunteered to make them some goods. Jade volunteered to help."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Since around the time that you rescued her," She rubbed her shoulder. "It helped pass the time while Soren was away…um…who's your friend?"

Oh, her?" Tech sat Lotus down in a chair nearby. She meant to run a hand through her once fruitful head of hair but cringed for the umpteenth time after realizing that she never really had any. "She's a new redpill."

"What? How old is she?"

"About 29…ish," At that point she stared at me with utter disbelief.

"You just love breaking rules, don't you?" She asked me.

"Well, my track record was never really that good."

"What kind of excuse is that?" She asked. "You're a captain, Ajani. You can't continue to do things like this," Like Venus, she didn't like many of the decisions I made, but in every other case, I had a defense. "You know, sometimes I wish you hadn't become a captain…" Even though I had a defending argument, she was obviously still mad at me for Tech being chosen as my new operator.

We were at a whisper, now, but I could tell that there were a few eavesdroppers, nearby. "Callie…do you mind if we talk somewhere a bit more…private?" She comtinued glaring at me for a moment, took a deep breath, and led me into another room. I closed the door, and looked back at her. "Callie—"

"Why is it that I can never understand what you do, Ajani?"

"No one can," I said. "I've never given you a reason to doubt me, but I told you that what happened wasn't my fault."

"…I know," She sighed. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"How are you really doing, Cal'?"

"…I miss him every day," She said, walking around. "His father…they said he was killed under normal circumstances, but…can you really classify anything as normal, anymore?"

"Callie—"

"They did it, didn't they?" I looked at her. "The machines?" I wanted to ask her how she knew, but rumors spread like a virus around this city. It amazed me that within three hours of the meeting being adjourned, the buzz had started. Either that, or Colt and Torque couldn't keep their mouths shut. "Please, Ajani…tell me something."

"I don't know," I said. "But I wouldn't be too surprised…they're starting something…"

"Oh god…" She held her head and began to cry. "Not another war…"

"Hey—hey!" I held her by the arms. "That's not what I said, alright? There is no war. We haven't figured it out, yet."

"I can't lose another one," She wept. "I can't lose Soren, Ajani…I can't deny him from serving on your crew but…but…" I held her in my arms. "Please protect him, just…please."

"…I will."

After that short conversation, she wiped her tears and rejoined the others. The thought of having another war was just…we were at peace; how could they just turn on us, like this? I needed to talk to someone about this, and I knew that this time couldn't come any sooner.

"Callie, I—oh…Jade," She held a cookie in her hand.

"I know it's for the other kids, but…tell me how it tastes."

I sighed. "I can't pass up this offer," I took the cookie from her, and took a bite…holy crap, it was sweet…definitely not meant for my taste buds, anymore. "Um…wow, Jade…lay off the sugar!" She took that as a compliment and broke into laughter. "Callie, can you watch over Lotus for me?" Lotus seemed to object to this at first, but I knew she'd rather stay here than go with me anywhere else. "I'm going to see Morpheus."

"He's been asking for you," She said. "Lotus, just make yourself at home. I know the ship's food was somewhat…displeasuring, so we'll treat you to some home cooked Zion food."

"Home…cooked?" Great, now she can play 21 questions with Callie. She's gonna love her company.

* * *

Morpheus chose to keep his door unlocked, because when I knocked on it, it clicked open. Astounded, I peeked inside, but couldn't see anyone from this angle. "Morpheus?" I stepped inside. It was just the way I remember it, when I had last stepped foot in here, so many years back. I usually came to him for advice, but with him disappearing and all… "Commander Locke said that you wanted to speak with me."

"That's correct," His voice echoed…well, that was very informative.

It came from nearby, so I followed it to the source. I couldn't smell it at the entrance, but now that I was further inside, incents were burning, much like they always did, showing signs that he hadn't changed a bit. I looked past a table to a bend in the space and he was sitting, facing the wall in a meditative position, but turned around after I'd found myself a seat.

"It's good to see you again, Ajani."

"…me?" He nodded. "I should be saying that to you, Morpheus."

He nodded, with an understanding. "I suppose Commander Locke has credited my "disappearance" as an act of insanity. Especially considering the recent upheaval in our truce."

"How did you find out?" He stared at me, as if I didn't already know the answer. "You went to the source?"

"I could only wish," He replied. "I didn't have the opportunity, as I soon found out, that a small faction of machines came to pursue my ship."

"So then they _are_ intent on killing us, again," This was a huge letdown, and thereby confirming Callie's suspicions that another war might be imminent. However, it appeared as if Morpheus had been preparing another theory, from the expression on his face.

"Not all of them," He said. "I believe that this "faction" are a small number of machines that have relinquished themselves from the source, in order to execute their plan."

"If this is true, the this had to have happened years before the Defiant, the Nebuchadnezzar II, or the Chephirah encountered them," I said. "Their forces have gotten considerably stronger, and they're using our technology against us," I showed him the pictures that I had shown the city council. He took them in hand and stared at them in shock. "But…you said they "relinquished" themselves from the source. How could they do that, without free will?"

"That, I do not have the answer to," He said, giving me back the photos. "But it reminds me of one of the agents I've encountered. Smith."

"Agent Smith was a parasite," I said, reflecting on what Captain Niobe told me. "He nearly destroyed the Matrix. The faction can't go after that without being taken out by the superior race."

"True. But, their actions do not imply that they will," Even though I had acquired some new info, the situation was more perplexing than I thought. "However, Smith, facing deletion, relinquished himself from the constraints of the Matrix, and slowly began to assimilate each and every mind until he had become an almost unstoppable presence."

"Until Neo stopped him, of course," He nodded. "And now, these machines want to undermine the very thing that he fought for."

Morpheus simply smiled, and moved onto another subject. "So tell me, Ajani…your reconnaissance mission. Niobe tells me that you found what you were looking for."

"Um…" God dammit. I never had a reason to lie to him, but I didn't have enough evidence to justify myself. "It's hard to explain."

"The mind you freed…let's start there."

I smiled. Neither of them hid anything from one another. That could either screw me over, or help the cause. "Morpheus…I went to see the Oracle," At that point, he gave me his full attention. "I know…I know this doesn't justify what I did, and take any action if you have to, but…she asked me if the salvation of the human race was something worth fighting for. And I couldn't understand why she asked me that—I was still under the impression that we were still at peace with the machines…and then she told me, that when the time came, only one will be able to judge whether we should be granted life or death."

"And I assume that she told you about this new mind," I nodded. "What part does she play in this?"

"Well that's the thing," I said. "She tells you everything but the specifics."

He nodded. "When you find your answers, stop by again, and tell me about it," I guess that that was the deal until I found a reasonable way to justify what I did…God, I've been away from this city for too long.


	7. Subsistence

_It's a crowning achievement in every person's life when they realize that the people around them may just be complete idiots…_

* * *

The lights dimmed all over the living quarters, suggesting that the time of the day had dwindled into the evening hours. Instead of taking the elevator I took a walk, passing level after level until I came back to Callie's level. As much as I didn't want to, it was time to go back for Lotus. Jesus Christ…how do people put up with lawyers…always pushing for answers…there's got to be some other way I can…wait a minute…

I just may have spawned an idea. "Hey, Callie."

"Ssh," The pastries were done baking and were stacked on trays, awaiting delivery. What she hushed me for, was the fact that Jade was sound asleep in a chair, nearby. "I decided to let her stay here, until tomorrow morning," Well she couldn't carry all of these trays by herself, and I asked her about who was going to help her. She was about to respond when someone knocked lightly on her door. "Oh, that must be Torque."

"You got Torque to help you?" She nodded, and opened the door. He stepped inside and didn't notice my presence until I was standing in his way. "Must be a slow day in manufacturing."

"Good to see you too," He picked up the trays that Callie handed to him. "You'll never believe what I heard…the Chephirah is on its way back."

"On its way back—are you serious?"

"Yeah, they're limping back on half a dozen pads, but they're still alive," Torque replied. "Roland came down to manufacturing earlier, and informed us that they're going to need a new hull, and had us cut out, for the day. He also went on to tell us that they were bringing something important, back with them, so I'mna head on up to the dock afterwards to see what it is."

"You do that," Callie picked up the last of the pastries and began to follow Torque, passing by me in the process.

"That redpill sure does ask a lot of questions."

"Tell me about it," She pulled the door in after her. I turned around and slipped past Jade and walked into the apartment. Tech's room was nearby, and I didn't have to eavesdrop on him to tell whether or not he was sleeping, or typing at his computer console—the light of the monitor was glowing from the door. In a long chair nearby, Lotus was underneath a single blanket, following along in Jade's footsteps. I knelt down beside her and looked at her. Ever since she woke up in the real, this is the only other time that I've seen her in such a peaceful state, so I took a moment to enjoy it before attempting to wake her up. "Lotus…wake up," She didn't want to, but knew whose voice she had just heard.

"When I open my eyes…"

You're going to see the same, blank expression on my face," She did so, and just like that, her hopes that this was just a dream had been crushed, yet again. She groaned and rolled over. "Lotus, just stop doing this to yourself already, and just accept the real for what it is."

"No…I can't."

I lost my chain of thought…what did I have planned for her? It was something…oh, that's right. "You want to see him again, don't you?"

"Don't you dare use him as a bribe."

"There you go again," I said. "Lotus, I know that you're smart, so think about this…under the current circumstances, have I lied to you, yet?" At least not about anything pertinent to her father and because of that, she turned back over and stared at me.

"So…I can go back?"

"I didn't say that," I said. "I said you could _see_ him, again."

"Then why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Because right now, it wouldn't have mattered," I replied. "We are too far underground to ever get a broadcast feed from the Matrix," At that point, I could tell that I just sparked a wave of interest in her. A couple thousand new questions just popped into her head from the look in her eyes, but one remained important, and she was about to ask it.

"Okay, Ajani," She sat up, and clenched her fists. "I've heard that thing for the last time. What is the Matrix, and where is it? And don't give me one of those stupid answers!"

I simply smiled, and stood up. "Follow me."

I walked over to Tech's room and pushed his door open. He had a pretty interesting setup, in here: there were stacks of hard drives lined up around a bundle of a half a dozen monitors, all pertaining to a project he was working on, on the main screen. His bed, a short distance away, was tightly clustered in a corner around boxes upon boxes of computer chips, programs, and older machines. I looked at him in both curiosity, and shock, as he looked back up at me the same way. "Captain…I um…I can explain—"

"I'd rather you didn't, Tech," I said. "I don't think I want to know."

"Um…alright," He tried to continue typing, but it was too awkward of a situation for him to do it comfortably. I pulled Lotus inside and she too, began to look around in shock.

"Tech, this is a…uh…interesting hobby," She said. "Ajani, why am I in here?"

"Tech, do you still have the simulator set up?"

Oh…" I looked at him for a moment, and then secretly pointed towards Lotus, who began to cast us suspicious looks. "Oh…the simulator," He got up, and cleared away a stack of boxes.

Lotus looked at me. "What are you plotting?"

"Go, he's waiting," He cleared away a portion of his bed and placed the jack in port above his pillow.

"What the hell is that?"

"Would you rather I explain it to you, or find out yourself, because you're only going to get choice two," She turned around and looked at the console. Tech sat her down on the bed and lay her to rest with her head on it, and began to set her up. "Tech is a professional at what he does, so you don't have to worry about anything. Just try to relax."

"I am so sick and tired of you saying—"

"Tech," He pressed the button, jacking her in. Three things happen for a new redpill who jacks in for the first time: a searing pain to the back of their skull, similar to them using their eyes for the first time, and as they attempt to yell or scream, no sound emerges from their mouths. Then there's a rush of energy throughout their entire body, as they are sucked from the real back into either a simulator, which we were using, or into the Matrix, which I'm not going to expose her to, just yet. Finally, their bodies cease struggling and they become relaxed, falling into a sleep, so to say, while their minds create an identical image for them, on the other side, free to move and go about as they previously did.

Tech helped me in as well, and I closed my eyes. On the other side, we were in the simulator: a white environment waiting for a code to be inputted, executing a program that gave me what I needed to show her what the Matrix was. She stood in front of me in the pants suit last worn before she was freed, looking around at her new environment.

"Lotus…" She spun around.

"What did you do to me? Where am I?"

"This is a simulator," I said. "Used to represent what the Matrix is. Like I said, the Matrix has been your home your entire life. It was the society you lived in; the people you conversed with, every day…the places you've been to, and the sights you saw…things of that nature."

"It's…a _program_?"

"Yes," She looked at me, shocked. "Oh come on, Lotus, think about it…your whole life you've been hearing about strange anomalies that were never explained…people having superhuman abilities, evading the police, and many of them escaping…when I asked you about the sky flashing green, a few months back…that was also part of the program."

"But…that wasn't supposed to happen."

"Why not?"

Because if it didn't, I wouldn't be here," She responded. "My father wouldn't have started his investigation…you wouldn't have found me."

"And do you regret that?" When she couldn't answer this question, it concerned me. This was the woman who had went on for weeks about how I had ruined her life, but this simple question, which I expected a "yes" from…I got nothing…strange. "You're right. It wasn't supposed to happen.

"The humans viewed it as a flash in the sky, but as a computer genius and operator, Tech described it as being a "glitch," in the program," I continued. "Ever since, things haven't been functioning as they should have, leaving your father's investigation to gain momentum. That, in turn, led him to me and me to you…and here we are, at last."

"This can't be real…"

I nodded. "My sunglasses…do you still have them?"

"Why would you ask me a question like that?" She asked, flailing her arms. "Of course I don't…don't…" She felt something in her pocket. She reached into it, and to her shock, there were my sunglasses. She threw them away, and jumped back. "How did those…"

"You're being watched upon by the man above, Lotus," She stared at me in a peculiar way. "You know...Tech?" Reassured, she then began to nod. "He assists us in the Matrix, as you have already witnessed, and he can help you better understand all of this than I can."

"It's kind of hard to comprehend all of this when you keep compounding information."

"You wouldn't have a hard time if you weren't trying to deny it," I said. "Look…in the real world, you had no hair, and you had holes in your arms and legs, and had a device implanted in the back of your skull…but now, you've returned to normal…your hair has grown back, and you're now in different attire. I can't make this any clearer to you, and I can't make any of this up, Lotus."

"Okay…alright, Ajani," She said, finally. "If I were to believe in this, how would I know I'm in a program, and not somewhere else?"

"Ask for something."

"…_ask_?" I nodded. "Um…okay…uh…a coffee mug—" She jumped back in shock when the cup came crashing to the floor, from one of Tech's commands. I looked up and shook my head. Lotus knelt down by the broken mug and looked at its fragments. "A desk," One popped up next to her. "A flat screen TV," Tech had the audacity to place it on the desk, this time. "A chair…a sofa…a bicycle…a car…a truck…a house…a whole building…dammit…a whole fucking city!"

Apart from all the useless shit that she had had spawned, the city didn't appear yet. Tech probably didn't expect her to ask for this, and was probably busy writing in all the commands that it required while returning us to an empty environment. I picked up my sunglasses and put them on, as rows upon rows of city blocks began falling out of the air. "Lotus, close your eyes," She did so, for a moment, and then reopened them to tell me off, but almost screamed when an entire city materialized around her. "Are you satisfied, now?" She wasn't facing me, but I heard her sniveling, getting ready to say something else, but couldn't find the strength to say it. I knew what she wanted, however, and turned her around. "This is the truth, Lotus…I can't stress it any more than this."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," My phone started ringing.

"What's up, Tech?"

"No, it's Torque," He responded. "There's something you need to see."

* * *

"Alright, so the Chephirah arrived a little early," The elevator climbed back up towards the dock, where whatever he was trying to show me, lie. "What's the problem?"

"That's not the problem," He said. "It's what they brought back, with them."

"What's the Chephirah?" Lotus asked.

"It's another one of the ships in Zion's hovercraft fleet," I said to her. "We thought they had been taken out, but it looks like they made it back…alive…" When the doors opened and I looked up at our arriving ship, I wasn't worried about the extent of its damage; that was repairable. The thing it was pulling…a remnant of one of the sentinel hovercraft we tried to evade…it brought it back to Zion for what reason? "What…what the fuck were they thinking?"

"The commander is standing by, at their bay, and they're taking that…thing, down, to manufacturing," He turned to me, obviously more angered than I was, at the sight of that ship. "I'm not going near that thing."

"Good," I looked back at Lotus, whom I probably shouldn't have exposed to this environment, again. She was staring up at the ship in a peculiar way, as if she had seen it before…and that's when the anomaly Torque mentioned flooded my thoughts, and I tapped him on the shoulder to grab his attention. "Lotus…" She wasn't responding to my call. It was almost as if she were in a trance, or something. "Lotus!" I shook her, snapping her back into focus. "What's wrong with you?"

"I…look, don't stone me, but," She continued staring at the ship. "I-I've seen this…thing, before…"

"Exactly where did you see it?" Torque asked.

"I don't know…there were at least a dozen that looked just like this…"

"The altercation in the cavern?" I nodded. She jumped out of her sleep, and saw the ships. Through the bulkhead, I'll never know how…and a split second later, they started shooting at one another…this can't just be coincidence, anymore.

We'll talk about this later," I turned around and broke into a run, towards the Chephirah's landing bay. The chains they used to tow the other ship broke free, and the sentinel ship dropped towards a moving platform, en route to manufacturing. It overtook me as I ran, leaving the Chephirah to land safely. Commander Lock was in sight, along with captains Roland and Niobe. "Don't let that thing any further into the city!"

"Ajani, what's the matter with you?" Roland asked, as I stopped next to them.

"That thing poses a threat to Zion," I said. "It nearly took out two ships…"

"It's a piece of scrap metal, now," He responded. "God knows what else the machines have in their arsenal."

"What if I told you that they had more?" At this point, the two captains and the commander himself turned towards me, fishing for answers. "About a dozen tried to destroy my ship, and that's probably what the crew of the Chephirah tried to avoid. Do you honestly think the machines are just going to let us take their technology without there being some sort of tracking device on it?"

"And you know as well as I do, that they're never gonna get a distress signal through manufacturing," He responded. "There's 20 feet of lead and concrete in those walls."

"Even if you're right, Captain Ajani," The commander said that, in a way that questioned my abilities as a captain. "And the machines truly have figured out a way to combat our ships by resorting to these measures, our best hope is to identify what makes them tick," It sounded as if he were trying to find a reason to wage war with them, again. But, if what Morpheus said was true, then there must've been a reason behind why one portion of the machines were upholding the truce and the others were hell bent on killing us.

"This is bullshit," I turned around and left as the ship landed. Trying to talk Commander Lock out of his decision was like trying to talk to that lawyer.

"Ajani."

I stopped again. "Look, I—"

"We both know that it's out of line," Finally, someone out of the three was on my side. "But do you have a better idea?"

"Destroy the damn thing!"

"And then what?" Niobe asked. "Send another ship out? The chances of another one getting as lucky as yours and theirs are slim."

"I'm just worrying about the safety of this city."

She sighed. "You're a couple of years too late for that, Ajani. The machines know perfectly well where our city is, and if they wanted to, they would've blown us to hell already."

Then what's keeping them?"

"You're asking the wrong person," She turned around and walked back towards the bay. "I'm too old for another war, Ajani…I'll leave that up to you to figure out."

I took a deep breath, and looked at the remnants of the sentinel ship, as it disappeared beyond another gate, on its way down to manufacturing. Sometimes I forgot that she was involved in the war, and knew what it was like. Hopefully I'll never have to endure something like that in my lifetime. And to help, I think I knew who she was referring to, but it would involve another reconnaissance trip, up to the broadcast level. A trip Commander Lock wasn't going to grant me, this time around. I walked back towards Lotus and Torque, who began shaking his head in disbelief.

"They're not changing their minds, huh?" I shook my head. "Figured so," He began to walk away, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Look, I don't like this either," I said. "But don't let it eat you up. We'll figure something out," He nodded, and I let him go. "Lotus, if you have any questions, save them…I'm not in the mood," I walked back towards the elevator with her clinging to my arm again. So far, this was the longest that she had ever gone without saying a single thing…peace, at last.

* * *

I lay across my bed, thinking of ways I could get me, my crew, and the Defiant out of the dock without Commander Lock noticing. I had a few friends up at Zion Control that I could get to let us leave, but by the time we returned, he'd have my ass and about half of Torque's, so that was probably a bad idea. I could've just confronted him and asked for something to get us out, like…more recon, or…some shit relating to the machines…but damn, that would have been contradicting to my argument, and he'd never let me live it down…shit, there was really no way out of this city.

I need to get to the Oracle. She said enough to help me get through the day, and hinted things that I ran into along my quest to find Lotus. A simple statement, like "you won't find her; she will find you" didn't mean much at first, but now…come to think of it, that case file was exactly what she had meant when she said that. She worked in mysterious ways, even for a program, so if I could get her to set the record straight, then by all means, we needed to leave this city…wait…Lotus still hasn't said anything to me…that's odd.

I sat up, and looked around. "Lotus?" The sofa was empty...where the hell could she have gone? "Must have went and got herself lost…just great," I looked around the place, and then opened the door, to find her standing out at the edge of our level. "What are you doing?"

"…look," She wanted to show me how magnificent my own home was. The approaching shuttering sound was the lights of the individual levels, as they turned in for the night. One by one, the lights cut out, eventually passing our level, and then continuing all the way down the canyon of levels and bridges. I hadn't seen that in a while. "That was…pretty cool."

Yep," I said. "I used to find it relaxing."

"Ajani…look," She sighed. "I understand what you're going through…I don't want to believe it, but…"

"Okay, let me correct you," I said. "You have _no_ idea what I'm going through, because you _refuse_ to accept it."

"Well, so much for apologizing."

I tried to comprehend what she said, but it didn't make any sense. "Lord, help me…what do you mean you're apologizing?"

"Well, for one, I tend to…um...drive people away," Oh really? I had no idea. "It's something Owen's been preaching to me, for years but I never believed him. But…I don't understand something."

"What?"

"Well, I know you meant to save my life, and everything, but…why me?" She asked. "I don't understand…I mean, my father's investigation means something to the both of us, and I've given you my reason for wanting to be here, but…why do _you_ want me?"

She finally asked me the million dollar question that I still didn't have an answer to. "Are you going to throw a fit if I tell you that I don't know, yet?"

"But…the other person who sent you on the mission knows, huh?"

"Damn, you really don't forget anything, do you?"

"It came with the job."

I sighed. "You probably won't know her…or shouldn't rather," She gave me her full attention. "She goes by the name of the Oracle. She's one of the oldest programs in the Matrix and I've only been to her about a handful of times."

"I've heard of her…but wait…she's a program?" I nodded. "But…if she looks human…oh god, here we go again."

"Do you honestly think I planned all of this by myself?" I asked her. "You've obviously seen how I react under stress, so think about it…programs don't flaw as easily as we do," She nodded, with some understanding.

"You know, I used to be able to read people," She mumbled. "I've been able to know what they were thinking, and to tell when they were about to lie to me, but…you've been the most difficult…you sound like you're telling the truth. The Matrix is a program…and there's a program within a program performing a task, like…a computer, but—"

Your judgment is overshadowing your ability to reason," She nodded. "Lotus, it's a step by step process which you've been trying to find shortcuts through. I can't tell you more about what you want to know until you can start to believe what I've been trying to show you. This situation isn't going to change, so…this is all on you," She looked up towards the overhead and took a deep breath. "So, I'm curious to know. Why the sudden change in attitude? You've been acting a lot calmer than I've ever seen you."

"I don't know…ever since I saw that thing, up in the dock, I haven't been able to think straight," She responded. "And for some reason, I can't get sleep because that's all I've been thinking about…what's happening?"

"It's just your average everyday city politics," I said. "We don't see what we want, and we debate against it, but in the end, we all get fucked," She found humor in this statement. I guess it was something that she could relate to. "Look…the door's open. Just go back inside when you think you're ready to go back to sleep."

"You're going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm going to go and check on Venus," I turned, and walked towards the elevator. "Torque told me about you two going head to head, so if you want to stay on her good side, I think you should let me reason with her."

"I think I can handle one ignorant person, Ajani!" Of course you can, Lotus.

* * *

"What is it Ajani?" She said, opening her door and staring at me with the utmost displeasure. She only opened it wide enough to peer out into the passageway, leading me to become suspicious of her.

"Can I come in?"

"No, I'll come out," She slipped out of the apartment and stood in front of me. I looked at her, curiously.

"I…just came to see where you and Lotus stood," I said, trying to look past her. "And…now I'm curious—what do you have in there?"

"Nothing!" She said, as anxiously as ever.

"If it was really "nothing" then I wouldn't have sensed your anxiety," This didn't seem to faze her, too much. "You know, you, talk about how much Torque and I play games, but this is contradicting," Neither did this. "I know how much you hate being wrong, so—"

Finally, she broke, threw her door open and viciously began grinding her teeth. "Just go inside, Ajani!" I was expecting to find someone in there, not that I wanted to see whoever it was, but instead…all I found were plants. Fucking plants! This was the woman who showed absolutely no mercy in combat, and yet here she was, breeding plants!

What in the hell…" They were being fed artificial sunlight by an overhead UV lamp, and they seemed to be kept in good condition, despite our long recon mission. On a desk nearby, there was a new tomato plant, picked fresh from one of the greenery levels.

She walked over, and stood in my line of sight. "Are you satisfied?"

"Venus, I—" I looked at her. "This is…a very interesting setup you have here, Venus…really, it's astounding."

Her facial expression changed. "…really?"

"Here, let's step outside," I pulled the door in behind me, and sat down beside it. Her situation just made me want to laugh; almost everyone in my crew had a little something to hide. "I'm sorry about that. You should've told me sooner, or we could've spared an awkward moment."

"You complimented me."

I chuckled. "What's wrong with that?"

"You're first to try and defend yourself," She responded, sitting down next to me. "You never communicate, and you never come to visit me…I-I don't understand."

"Yeah? This, coming from the non-socialite?" She shrugged and continued pushing for an answer. "Alright, fine…that lawyer has been working my nerves for the last few days. It's nice to have a normal conversation."

"Would you like me to handle her?"

"No. I heard about what happened between you two, and I need her alive. But I also came to…check, and make sure that everything was alright, with you. You want answers more than anyone else."

"I wanted you to explain yourself, but you obviously have no idea what you're doing, yet."

"There's the Venus I know," I said. "Does "The Oracle" sum it up?"

"…unfortunately," She mumbled. "I had a feeling that she was behind this."

"Have you ever gone to see her?"

"Yes," She answered, quickly. "Right before I joined your crew…I asked Ghost to take me to see her."

"Why?"

"I…I knew that Captain Niobe wasn't going to let me join the crew of the Logos II, so I needed some advice…I know it sounds stupid, but…you weren't worthy of talking to, at the time."

"You can say it, Venus," I said. "I was an asshole, back then. I didn't want to be a captain, at first."

What made you change your mind?" She asked. "That is, if you don't mind me asking."

"Ghost's captain," She turned to me. "Yeah, we all have our roots. And you know, to be honest, I don't think you needed to see the Oracle to get my attention. Had I known that you would've become such a great first mate, I wouldn't have hesitated, placing you on the crew."

She smiled; a rare sight, among many. "Are you just saying that because I save your asses, all the time?"

"…yeah, and we're going to continue needing it," I replied, getting up. "You know, that coin toss, now that I think about it, probably wasn't necessary…ooh..." Ho…ly shit…god dammit, Ajani! What did you just do?!

"What coin toss?" Think of something, think of something… "Oh, right…the coin toss."

"…wait, how do you know about that?"

"Torque wanted the position of first mate, because "he helped build the ship," or some shit like that, so we settled our differences by sparring," She replied. "He went on to tell me that you flipped a coin on the position, and when he lost, he thought he'd settle it the old-fashioned way."

"Look, Venus, I'm sorry, but—"

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," She continued. "I was completely pissed for a few weeks until I got a chance to witness how badly you make decisions—relating to the Matrix, not as a captain…so, I got over it."

"Oh…so we're good?"

"Yep. I can't say the same for the redpill," Well, this conversation did nothing to help ease their relations. "Thanks for the chat."

"Not a problem," I said. "It was very…surprising."

"But um…do you mind keeping this between us?" I nodded. The last thing I needed was to grant Torque and Tech the ability to walk all over her. She worked best when she was focused. "Thanks again…goodnight, captain," As an added benefit, that was the first time that she had called me by my title, rather than by my name, in a long time.

This, however, wasn't going to excuse the world of pain that Torque had in store for him.

* * *

Sitting propped up in the center of the manufacturing level was the sentinel ship that the Chephirah had brought in, earlier that day. Machinists were busy cutting and hacking away at its hull, having been ordered by the commander to break it down into parts to research and figure out what the machines had in store for them. While under close observation by three APU's, none of them noticed, or even heard, when one of the onboard computers began to start up, executing a single command before crashing. A line of encrypted code flashed across the screen, and a jolt of electricity was sent to one of the turrets on its underside.

"Captain," Colt called, to Captain Roland. "I'm getting readings of increased thermal activity—" As he said this, the whole process stopped, and turret stopped moving.

"What?" He asked. "There's a bunch of people cutting into the hull; the end result is going to be heat, Colt."

"…you're right, captain," He said, increasing the strength of the thermal imager. "It's just the heat from their blow torches," Once he had resumed his normal duty, the turret began rotating again.

It wasn't looking to fire anything. Instead, just out of plain sight of the APU's, it dropped four metallic spherical objects onto the deck, before becoming inoperable again. One of the personnel manning one of the APU's nearby heard this, and walked his unit over to investigate, but by the time he reached they were out of sight, having deliberately rolled into a sewage drain.

"Get back into position, APU Number 2," Roland boomed, over his radio.

"Sorry, sir, I just thought I saw something."

"God dammit," Roland rubbed his temples. "Of all the people, Deadbolt chose me to do this crap."

"You want me to go check, captain?" Colt asked.

"No, I need you up here," Apart from him, the only other person in the room was Torque, who was sitting on a crate, looking back at him. "Torque, I understand you're angry, but do you need me to find something for you to do?"

"No," he mumbled. "I'll go check it out, but a few things might end up broken."

"I'm going to act like I didn't hear that."

Torque took the elevator down one level and stepped out onto the main deck. He picked up a sledgehammer that was resting on a crate nearby, and swung it over his shoulder while passing an APU, whose operator found humor in his choice of weapon. Torque didn't care, however. While Ajani took pride in his handling of pistols and Venus with her rifles, he preferred more blunt objects, like pipes, baseball bats, and his personal favorite: the sledgehammer. It proved useful only about a third of the time, but Ajani wouldn't dare strip him of what made Torque operate best.

As he neared the ship, a small distance below, in the sewage piping, the spheres began to take on a new shape, forming quadruped-like bodies in the shape of attack dogs. Torque heard the strange noises and drew closer, pulling the sledgehammer off of his arm, but just before he could get any closer someone called out for him. He stepped back to see who it was, and the machines delayed attacking him.

"Ajani," He walked towards him. "What are you doing down here?"

"A sparring match, Torque?" Torque couldn't understand where he was getting at until he dove through the last few years of his memory, and came up with an answer. "After I made it clear that Venus was first mate?"

"You flipped a coin!" Torque shouted. "Who the fuck does that?"

"Apparently I did!" One of the machines stuck their head out of the sewage pipe, and began scanning Ajani. Their results came up positive: for he was the leader of the group of four people that their ship tried to kill, and failed. "Torque…look. This thing is still going to be here in the morning."

"I can't believe you're just going to sugarcoat this thing," He said, angrily. "I thought you were against this thing, and now that there's no way to get rid of it, you're just going to evade it, like…like this is some sort of science project?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…Torque," Ajani stepped closer. "I don't want to have to pull the "captain" card on you, of all people, but if I have to, then I'm going to. I never said I was sugarcoating anything. If it were up to me, I'd blow this piece of shit to hell. If you want to justify yourself by doing it, then by all means, but really, what will you have accomplished other than satisfying the two of us?" Torque realized that he had stepped too far, with Ajani, even with all the things that he had done in the last few weeks. As a captain, he respected him, but as a friend, he had known him longer than anyone on the crew.

"Ajani…"

"Apology accepted."

"Yeah, because I wasn't going to say it," He mumbled, scratching his head.

"Torque, in all the years that I've known you, you don't apologize up front," Ajani said. "Look, like I said, I don't like this crap either, but like I said to Lotus: it's just your average city politics," He nodded. Ajani looked up at the control box, and could see Roland staring down at them. "Roland is overseeing this little project?"

"He's not happy about it, either," Torque responded. "Look, I'mna stay here for a little while longer, and then call it a night. Are we cool?"

"Frosty…but before I go, who won that sparring match?" Torque only smiled and left Ajani with nothing. He knew that Torque smiling was a good thing, but then again, his first mate's abilities weren't something to question. "I knew I wasn't going to get a response," Ajani turned around and walked back towards the elevator. Torque picked up his sledgehammer, decided to keep it with him, and returned to the control box. An attack dog crawled up and out of the sewage drain decided to make its move.

It went after Torque, at first, but then switched to Ajani, and crept behind various crates and pieces of machinery, making sure to keep out of his sight and that of the APU's. He got into the elevator and turned around, provoking it to duck for cover, once again. Little did the machine know, however, that Ajani had seen the footprints it made after it stepped in a puddle of oil, and quickly closed the doors.

'Nah, I was just dreaming,' He thought that over for a moment. 'Had to have been…' He stopped the elevator on a mechanical level, and decided to take the long way back up. The machine, still in manufacturing, heard the elevator's abrupt stop and darted for the shaft, cutting a hole in a vent grate nearby, and following that up the elevator shaft. Ajani, thinking he was out of the clear, walked along the dimly lit corridor of pipes and conduits, until he saw the exit stairs up ahead. He reached for the gate, but it was locked. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Suddenly, he heard a soft, clicking sound from behind him. The knife he kept safe on the sheath around his waist was a half a second out of reach, but he reached for it anyway.

Out of nowhere, as if someone were stabbing him at the same time in multiple directions across his back, something lunged at him with enough force to knock him over. He took his knife and drove it at the object, repelling it in pain…or in a machines' case, damage.

He looked at the dog-like machine, as it circled him. He had managed to puncture a large enough hole in its side to where it began leaking oil, but it was still hell bent on killing him. "You've definitely got to be kidding me—" It lunged at him, again. Although toppling over, Ajani managed to catch both of its front paws in his hand, and was putting up a good effort of restraining it from gouging his eyes out. He realized that it was lightweight, and had to have been made of something that could resist the blast of an EMP. With this advantage, he used all of his strength and threw it off of him. "Fuck this!" He turned around and broke into a run. The machine extended its tail and wrapped it around his ankle and yanked him back towards it. He dropped his knife in the process, and fought to get back to it.

The machine finally saw its opportunity. It let go of his leg and climbed up his back. He rolled around trying to get it off but as it reached his head something happened. His body went still and he went silent, as it stabbed him in the back of his head. He felt a rush of energy, and was pulled out of his world and into a new environment, as the machine dove through his thoughts, seeking out the three other intended targets. One it had found them it trapped him in a deep state of sleep, and his body became motionless.


End file.
